FL H0017

Creates s. 921.00242 requiring courts to hold a veterans' status hearing before sentencing if a defendant alleges their criminal offense resulted from PTSD, traumatic brain injury, substance use disorder, or psychological problems from combat service.

Allows courts to place eligible veterans on probation or community control in treatment programs if the defendant agrees and an appropriate program exists, with preference for programs with histories of treating combat veterans.

Provides sentence credits for defendants placed in residential treatment programs if the court would have otherwise sentenced them to incarceration.

Establishes a pretrial veterans' treatment intervention program for felony charges (s. 948.08(7)) allowing eligible veterans to voluntarily enter treatment, with charges dismissed upon successful completion and eligible for expungement.

Creates a misdemeanor pretrial veterans' treatment intervention program (s. 948.16(2)) for eligible veterans charged with misdemeanors, with similar completion and expungement provisions; exempts Department of Veterans Affairs services from contract requirements.