The latest to graduate from the Veterans Treatment Court system in Christian County’s Judicial Center, Garrett Woodman’s words to others pushing through life’s obstacles were simple and succinct Monday afternoon.
A member of the U.S. Marine Corps, he called his 15-month process similar to the military, noting it was the “same kind of stuff” that “needed to be done.” Routine and effective.
Fifteen months ago, Woodman was facing a litany of misdemeanor charges, following what Judge Foster Cotthoff called a “doozy” of an evening in the area leading to a speeding DUI with no insurance.
Since, however, Cotthoff noted Woodman has been a model citizen and corpsman, choosing not to do “anything halfway,” while working at Sam’s Club, in construction and maintaining full-time status at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.
His wife, Cadiz native Brook-Lynn Knight Woodman, introduced her husband to a gallery full of other veterans — many of them pushing in line for their own graduation day.
Veterans Treatment Court is specifically designed to assist veterans who have been involved with the criminal justice system, and often suffer from mental health issues, substance abuse disorders, or both.
Many of these men and women do become affected by intense military service, and through combat trauma, PTSD, traumatic brain injury often find inappropriate, illegal methods of coping.
In response, Kentucky’s Department of Specialty Courts launched the state’s first VTC in Jefferson County in 2012, and now, programs have brought quality of life options to Christian, Fayette, Hardin, Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties.
It takes approximately 18-to-24 months to complete the VTC program, depending on the level of services needed and the progress made by the veteran. If applicable, completion of the program can lead to dismissal of charges.
