C.Palmer - June 6, 2022 - Veterans Treatment Court Program

550 HIGH STREET • SUITE 1200 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201 POST OFFICE BOX 220 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205 TELEPHONE (601) 359-3680 June 6, 2022 The Honorable Carlos D. Palmer Greenwood Municipal Judge 406 Main Street Greenwood, Mississippi 38935 Re: Veterans Treatment Court Program Dear Judge Palmer: The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion. Background Recently, you requested our office to provide an opinion as to whether the Greenwood Municipal Court could establish a municipal veterans misdemeanor treatment court. In response we said, the Legislature has granted circuit courts the sole authority to establish veterans misdemeanor treatment courts. MS AG Op., Palmer at *1 (Sept. 29, 2020). Question Presented In your present request, you pose several underlying questions concerning the classification and intent of intervention courts in the State of Mississippi to ultimately ask, again, whether a municipal court may establish and operate a misdemeanor veterans intervention court based on the answers to the other questions. Brief Response It remains the opinion of this office that the sole authority for establishing and operating veterans treatment courts rests with the circuit courts of Mississippi because it is explicitly granted by the Legislature in Mississippi Code Annotated Section 9-25-1. Applicable Law and Discussion Section 9-25-1 states, in pertinent part, “[a] circuit court judge may establish a Veterans Treatment Court program. The Veterans Treatment Court may, at the discretion of the circuit court judge, be Hon. Carlos D. Palmer June 6, 2022 Page 2 550 HIGH STREET • SUITE 1200 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39201 POST OFFICE BOX 220 • JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205 TELEPHONE (601) 359-3680 a separate court program or as a component of an existing intervention court program.” Miss. Code Ann. § 9-25-1(2). Because the Legislature so clearly vested the circuit courts of Mississippi with the authority to establish Veterans Treatment Court programs, it is the opinion of this office that a municipal court does not have the authority to establish and operate a misdemeanor veterans intervention court. If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL By: /s/ Abby C. Overby Abby C. Overby Special Assistant Attorney General