House passes Patt Maney bill broadening access to Veterans Treatment Courts

House lawmakers have approved legislation expanding Florida’s Veterans Treatment Courts.

The chamber voted 110-0 to pass HB 199, which would expand and clarify how defendants can be admitted to Florida’s Veterans Treatment Court programs, shifting more discretion to Judges than prosecutors alone.

Shalimar Republican Rep. Patt Maney, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, member of the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame Council and former Judge of the 1st Judicial Circuit, sponsored the bill, which previously won uniform support through two committee stops.

HB 199, if enacted, would allow courts, working with a multidisciplinary team, to determine eligibility for veterans treatment programs while still requiring Judges to consider State Attorneys’ recommendations and a defined set of factors, including the nature of a given offense, the defendant’s history, victim input and treatment resources.

The measure, effective July 1, would also authorize sentencing courts to divert eligible service members and veterans convicted of certain nonviolent, third-degree felonies into post-adjudicatory Veterans Treatment Court programs as a condition of probation or community control.

Further, HB 199 would set procedures for handling probation violations within the veterans court system.

Florida is home to one of the largest veteran populations in the nation, with nearly 1.4 million of America’s 19.1 million veterans living in the state — second only to Texas — accounting for roughly 12% of Florida’s adult population, according to the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

The Alliance for Safety and Justice, which focuses on criminal justice reform, celebrated HB 199’s passage. The group emphasized that Veterans Treatment Courts “combine rigorous judicial oversight with treatment, mentoring, and accountability — an approach proven to reduce recidivism, strengthen families, and improve public safety.”

“Florida has long recognized that military service leaves lasting marks, and that a serious society takes responsibility for how it treats those who bear them,” said Katie Bohnett, the organization’s Florida State Director. “HB 199 reflects that understanding by removing unnecessary barriers and ensuring veterans courts operate fairly, consistently, and effectively.”

Mike Crook, Florida State Chair of the conservative Christian Coalition, stressed that Veterans Treatment Courts are “demanding programs.”

“Participants must comply with treatment, submit to close supervision, and meet strict requirements,” he said. “When they succeed, communities are safer, which brings families together. When they fail, courts retain full authority to impose consequences.”

Pastor Jearlyn Dennie, a crime survivor and veteran who leads the Flagler County chapter of Crime Survivors Speak, said she supports the legislation as well.

“I strongly believe that accountability and public safety must always come first,” she said. “House Bill 199 strengthens outcomes for veterans, survivors and the community.”

Ahead of the unanimous vote Wednesday, Miami Democratic Rep. Ashley Gantt, a former public defender, praised the bill and Maney for carrying it.

She described working with veterans alongside Judge Edward Merrigan and the Broward County Veterans Court over which he presides, now nearing its 14th anniversary, and the “truly amazing” work done there.

While serving as a public defender, she said, she handled Veterans Court cases involving clients who were often coping with post-traumatic stress disorder by self-medicating and whose mental health conditions were diagnosed late.

Their stories were difficult to hear, and the compassion the Judge, prosecutors, defense lawyers, social workers and treatment providers showed veterans in that process, she said, inspired and reminded her why she became a lawyer.

“To put this into statute is such a tremendous refilling of my cup and my heart,” she said, adding that her brother is a retired U.S. Marine Corps major. “I know what coming over the hump of PTSD looks like, and it involves an entire village, and that court is that village for some of our veterans who don’t have their own family to be that village.”

HB 199 will now go to the Senate, where it will await a floor vote upon the final committee passage of its upper-chamber companion (SB 50) by Pensacola Republican Sen. Don Gaetz, which has cleared two of three committee stops.