13th Circuit Veterans Treatment Court: A Model for Veteran Justice

What happens when veterans, trained for combat, return to civilian life and find themselves on the wrong side of the law? This episode of Simple Civics explores an innovative answer taking root in South Carolina’s justice system: the 13th Circuit Veterans Treatment Court. We uncover how this specialized court moves beyond punishment to provide a second chance for veterans facing challenges like PTSD, substance abuse, and traumatic brain injury stemming from their service. By combining accountability with grace, the program aims to address the root causes of their offenses and prevent them from re-entering the criminal justice system.

Join host Katy Smith as she sits down with 13th Circuit Solicitor Cindy Crick and Upstate Warrior Solution CEO Charlie Hall to discuss how this powerful program works. You'll get a rare inside look at the philosophy behind Veterans diversion programs South Carolina style, learning how community partners, mentors, and the judicial system collaborate to offer a hand up, not a handout. This conversation details the journey from arrest to graduation, explaining the role of a solicitor in South Carolina and why targeted PTSD support for veterans in criminal justice is so critical. We explore the court’s impressive 80% success rate and hear a powerful story of a graduate who returned to mentor others, proving that this model doesn't just change lives - it creates a cycle of paying it forward.

Introduction

Katy Smith: Most of us hope to never set foot in a courtroom unless it's for a wedding or naturalization ceremony. But beneath the surface of our justice system, dedicated professionals and passionate community members are creating innovative ways to offer accountability and a second chance, especially for our veterans. I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville. And on this episode of Simple Civics: Greenville County, we're taking a deep dive into the judicial branch, focusing on a powerful example of local innovation, the 13th Circuit Veterans Treatment Court.

Katy Smith: We're joined by Cindy Crick, the solicitor for the 13th Circuit, which covers Greenville and Pickens County, who will break down the role of the state prosecutor and the need for diversion programs. We'll also welcome Charlie Hall, founder and CEO of Upstate Warrior Solution, to discuss his hands on experience as a mentor in the court.

Katy Smith: In this conversation, you'll hear a primer on how South Carolina's state judicial system works from arrests to prosecution, the philosophy behind diversion programs where accountability meets grace, the vital why behind the Veterans Treatment Court and how it addresses issues stemming from combat and service and success metrics, including an impressive 80% graduation rate.

Katy Smith: Cindy and Charlie, thanks so much for joining me for a really important conversation and one I am very eager to learn from. Thanks for being here.

Cindy Crick: Thank you.

Charlie Hall: Glad to be on.

Katy Smith: We have done so many, many, many episodes on civic engagement and how government works. But I will confess they have really focused on the legislative branch and the executive branch. We have done very little about the judicial system. And I suspect that most listeners, unless they've gone through a divorce and had to go through family court or probate, if a relative has died, has themselves not had much engagement with the justice system.

Katy Smith: So I thought we could start just by getting a primer on how the judicial system works in South Carolina, in our local governments and at the federal level. That's a big ask. Cindy, can you give us that overview?

The Role of a Solicitor and Diversion Programs

Cindy Crick: Yes, and I think I can probably do it best by explaining a little bit about what a solicitor is and what our role in that process is. So I'm the chief Prosecutor for the 13th Judicial Circuit. We have 16 circuits in the state. We cover Greenville County and Pickens County. Every other state, I think, calls them district attorneys, but for some reason in South Carolina, we call them solicitors. So in essence, I'm the district attorney, and our job is to prosecute cases that involve violation of state statutes, state ordinances, sometimes.

Cindy Crick: Anytime law enforcement makes an arrest in Greenville County and it rises to the level of being a general sessions charge, sometimes magistrate level charges, we have a whole unit dedicated to those. We are the ones that actually go forward and prosecute those cases. So we work hand in hand with law enforcement. And we have about 50 attorneys. Actually, we have a little bit more now. We're the biggest office in the state. We get about 1500 new warrants per month. I think last time I checked, we have about six to seven thousand defendants. And it's everything from driving under the influence to trespassing, burglary, domestic violence, murder, the whole gamut.

Cindy Crick: So if it is a state offense, a state law, and you violate it, that comes to us. Of course, you probably know there's also a federal system for people who violate our federal laws. But we're the state system. We also prosecute juvenile offenders in family court, and you mentioned divorce, and maybe people having to enter into the family court system. But we're also responsible for prosecuting crimes committed by kids, which is tough.

Cindy Crick: We do prosecute a lot of people. We do have people who will go to court, we'll try the case, we'll have guilty pleas, and a lot of them do get significant prison time or jail time. But we also have a whole other way of special diversion programs and what I like to call recidivism reduction programs for lower level offenders, nonviolent offenders. And these are people who are in our system largely because of some underlying issue, whether mental health, substance abuse. It could be any number of things. And we love to have people enter into those programs in hopes that they don't revisit us or the criminal justice system. And we like to say that's where accountability meets grace. So I think that's where Charlie comes in a little bit, because he's a huge part of one of those programs.

The Origin of the 13th Circuit Veterans Treatment Court

Katy Smith: Great. How did the Veterans Treatment Court come to be?

Charlie Hall: Just a bit of a history lesson. Judge Robert Russell started the first Veterans Treatment Court, which is under that diversionary umbrella that Cindy talked about. He started that in 2008 in Buffalo, New York. So under the leadership of Judge Chuck Simmons, who is our 13th Circuit Master-in-Equity, Judge Simmons learned about Veterans Court from the Buffalo model. It was starting to slowly circulate around the country to different circuits.

Charlie Hall: Judge Simmons started that with also a good friend, Deputy Solicitor [Could not verify with context], who is also a colonel in the JAG Corps. We are actually just celebrating his move to the federal level which is a cool thing that Cindy and her team will be able to do. But Judge Simmons and Deputy Solicitor [Could not verify with context] started the Greenville-Pickens Circuit back in 2013. Upstate Warrior Solution was just starting, but we saw this as a very tangible way for us to get involved in the community. Myself and some of our initial staff signed up to be mentors.

Addressing the Unique Needs of Veterans

Katy Smith: Charlie, you have been a wonderful community champion of so many issues, obviously veterans issues. As the founder and CEO of Upstate Warrior Solution, you've definitely been a community partner and champion for the Veterans Treatment Court. Talk a little bit about why that is important.

Charlie Hall: Veterans Treatment Court is really focused on our post 9/11 vets who have experienced combat in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 20 years. Most of all of our folks in the community know a veteran by now and have seen some of the after effects of war. And vets are just like normal people. They get arrested for doing things on a crazy Friday night or a pattern of misconduct that finally gets caught and adjudicated.

Charlie Hall: So Judge Simmons says it very well at every graduation. He says, you fought for us, so it's our time to now fight for you. It's really the heart and soul of the program. It's the judicial system saying, Mr. or Mrs. Veteran, we know you've made some bad decisions. There's a chance that some of your decision making is related to your time in the military and particularly due to your combat experience. So we're going to have a little grace. We're going to make it hard. This isn't free. This is going to be tough. Buckle up for the ride. But we're going to give you an opportunity to have these charges taken off your record if you go through this really tough accountability program for the next year.

Charlie Hall: So as a veteran, it's an awesome thing for me to see the institution of the judicial system offering a hand up. It's not a handout and it's hard. It's a tough year for these vets, but they earn it and they're grateful for it.

Cindy Crick: When we think about our veterans, the underlying issues that they deal with, the PTSD, sometimes traumatic brain injury, the stresses of coming back, are very unique to that population and the community partners we have. Charlie grossly understates his role in this program. They are a cornerstone of this program and without them, we could not do it. They help us identify mentors, which is a critical part of what we do. They support.

Cindy Crick: We also have the VA, our representative from The VA that is connecting them with services is very specific to this group of people. And the goal of it really is we don't want to see you keep cycling through the criminal justice system. We do want to help. We do want to make sure that we lower the number of repeat offenses that we see in our office. And the way to do that, and the only way to do that is to address really the root problem, which is very unique in these situations. So we have the best team we could possibly have to do that, and we're very thankful for that.

Cindy Crick: And I think the other little important part or interesting part is that we've had people in our office, prosecutors within our office, that have some connection to military service as well. We have Jesse Williams, who's amazing, who is the point person in our office, and then we have [Could not verify with context], who's admin, who really keeps everything moving and coordinates with everyone. I know you guys at Upstate Warrior Solution are looking at those jail lists. You have representatives who are constantly looking for referrals and connecting everybody. And that's the most important part, is making sure somehow we get connected to the people that really need the program.

A Success Story: Paying It Forward

Katy Smith: Well, this sounds like a really impressive and needed program. Since you have some experience now with it, Charlie, could you share a success story?

Charlie Hall: Yeah, absolutely. So, again, pretty small slice of the veterans community. I think we've had about 40 graduates in the last 10 years, but I'll just share one of my mentees that I got to work with for a year. He had just gotten out of the military, was in college, studying for exams, had a rough night, ended up in jail, ended up with the 13th Circuit solicitor's Veterans Treatment court for a year, and a big brother named Charlie.

Charlie Hall: So that was a good example where again, no prior arrests, really no prior issues in life that the system knew about. And when you look at all of those other environmental factors that led to that tough night, you know that there was more going on there. So after a year, he finished college, actually finished his master's degree, is a professional here in the community. And the coolest part is he has come back and he has had, I think, three mentees as defendants. As a grad, that's really one of the key metrics here. Is that veteran getting rearrested? Hopefully, the answer is no. But are some of those defendants coming back to share the love to pay it back and mentor their brothers and sisters who are in their shoes? So we've seen it happen time and time again.

Katy Smith: I love it.

Measuring Success and Future Goals

Katy Smith: All right, so to that point, Cindy, I know you're tracking data to see what the outcomes are. Can you talk about that?

Cindy Crick: Since Veterans Treatment Court began, I think we've had 56 total participants. As Charlie mentioned, 40 have graduated. We have six who are still actively participating. I believe in the program. We've only in those 10 years had 10 that couldn't make it through the program. But by my calculations, and math is not my strong point, it's about an 80% graduation rate.

Cindy Crick: And one of the things I'd love to see coming in as the new solicitor, it's such a successful program. We get to see outside of the numbers. We get to see every graduation day, the real life graduates and impact and success stories. And we would love to expand that as much as we can. So goals moving forward, it's a fantastic program and the more people we can include and touch, that's what we want to do.

Charlie Hall: And I want to thank Cindy and her team for bringing fresh energy to this. This is in a court system that has perpetuated other parts of the state. Justice Don Beatty, I believe about eight years ago was involved with really encouraging every solicitor in the state to have a veterans treatment court. I think we're close, but that's something where many courts in the Upstate do the 13th Circuit model just because it works so well.

Charlie Hall: And Judge Simmons and Andrew and Jesse have been on panels throughout the state and even at the national level to talk about the way they do it in Greenville, South Carolina. So that's been really cool to see how something that's worked well at the local level has perpetuated to other parts of the state and other parts of the country as well.

Katy Smith: I love that. Everyone knows we are a model on so many fronts and people love to come and see our bridge and see our parks and experience our food scene and lots of great nonprofits and public entities working together. This is a really cool thing that would be great to see replicated in more communities across the country.

Katy Smith: I've loved hearing you talk about how many partners and personalities and passion have made this successful. So of course it's that such a tool is legally available, but it's also the heart of the judge who brings his skill and care to the work as well as all the partners that you've mentioned, the VA, many others for making this a success and of course the veterans themselves who are willing to participate in it. Well, Cindy and Charlie, thanks so much for joining us and for celebrating Veterans Day with the release of this episode.

Charlie Hall: Thanks for having us on.

Cindy Crick: Thank you so much.