Santa Rosa County's Veterans Court continues on a 'shoestring budget' after funding veto
By Jennie McKeon
July 14, 2025 at 9:38 AM CDT
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a list of vetoes last week as he signed the state’s budget into law. One of the local programs affected by the cuts is the newly established Santa Rosa County Veterans Court. The program has lost a full-time position and is running on a “shoestring” to keep serving veterans.
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“We've got 25 veterans in this court,” said Carmen Reynolds, a retired Air Force Lt. Col. “The apprehension is palpable as to what the court is going to be able to continue (to do), in spite of this veto.”
There are 33 veteran courts in Florida — Santa Rosa County is the newest. In its first year, the court served 25 veterans.
“At least one of them told a court member last week that had it not been for this program, he would have killed himself,” said Reynolds.
With the veto, the program has lost funding for its veterans treatment coordinator. This full-time position keeps track of the veteran and where they are in the program whether its meeting with a probation officer or keeping track of community service hours.
“The day the governor vetoed the bill is the day he found out he no longer has a job, and the veterans are left hanging,” Reynolds said.
RELATED: Veterans Court Helps Offenders Find Their Way
Another resource that has immediately stopped is the ability to serve veterans who do not have VA benefit entitlements, said Reynolds.
“So the court now with the veto, (the court) cannot afford to pay for a mental health counseling appointment, nor can they pay for any medical appointments that would traditionally be answered through (or) met through the VA,” she explained.
The court has also lost funding for urinalysis costs, which is about $35 per test. That cost will go to the veterans, which can be barrier to their recovery.
“Some of these folks have lost their jobs as a result of this — of an action that has gotten them into this court,” said Reynolds. “So that's not easy to come up with. The spouses may have to make up for that, and that causes financial issues.”
At least one of the veterans in the program lived at the Max-Well Respite Center, which announced it was closing last month.
Establishing Santa Rosa’s Veterans Court
Reynolds was instrumental in bringing a Veterans Court program to Santa Rosa County, which started last year on Sept. 11. One of the first people she called when she started to lay the groundwork was Rep. Patt Maney, whom she calls “the father of veterans court.”
Maney pushed for veterans courts in Florida while serving as a judge more than 15 years ago. As a U.S. Army Reservist, Maney suffered a traumatic brain injury serving in Afghanistan in 2005. He had to relearn how to do simple tasks. The experience led him to spearhead the court program that offers pretrial diversions and requires judges to consider veterans’ combat experience when making sentencing decisions.
Since she established the Santa Rosa County program, Reynolds has worked closely with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, which shares data on the number of veterans that come through the jail. In the past 19 months, a total of 596 veterans have come through the county jail, but not all would be candidates for the court, said Reynolds.
RELATED: County offices help the region’s many veterans access their VA benefits
“The entirety of them are not candidates for this court because we're not talking serious, super serious charges. Some of them are, you know, way down the road, and there's just no coming back from a 39-page rap sheet or something of that nature."
Most of Santa Rosa County was left without state representation during the legislative session after Rep. Joel Rudman left his District 3 post for a failed congressional race. Nathan Boyles won the special election in June, but by then, the session was just about over.
The bill sponsor for Santa Rosa’s Veterans Court was District 2 Representative Alex Andrade, who has faced backlash from Governor DeSantis for his investigation into Hope Florida. Most of the local vetoes were projects sponsored by Andrade.
Reynolds said the program receives small donations here and there, which are funneled from the Friends of the Santa Rosa Veterans Treatment Court nonprofit, but would be hard-pressed to replace the $150,000 lost.
She said she would love for the Governor to rescind his veto or provide an alternative funding.
“It's my belief that the governor doesn't even know that it's impacted veterans; he wore the uniform,” she said. “I'm not convinced that he knows this.”
An intervention
A 2017 study from the National Institute for Health that sampled data from 22,000 veterans shows better outcomes for veterans in the specialized program.
Veterans court programs take into consideration past traumas or injuries.
“You have to experience what we're talking about to really comprehend and grasp the situation,” said Reynolds. “Once the body and the brain have witnessed these traumatic experiences that these guys and gals have been involved in, whether they've been injured, whether they were in a blast, whether they were in an explosion, the brain immediately goes into fight or flight and it is in a revved up situation, perpetually.”
Reynolds knows firsthand how trauma can affect someone’s life. Her father, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, suffered physical injuries, including a broken leg and a head injury. Returning back home, he would have flashbacks of the horrors he witnessed. And he took his anger out on his family.
RELATED: Trump's VA cut a program that's saving vets' homes. Republicans have questions
After his tours, he returned “a very broken individual who didn’t know if he would go to hell for having killed the enemy,” said Reynolds.
“It haunted him,” she said. “He needed care. He needed intervention. I did not know anything about this at the time. My mother, the nurse, they were not trained for this.”
Reynolds said she ended up moving out of the house with her sister under police escort.
“I don’t lament that, but I wish it had been different,” she said. “But maybe I’m the poster child for why this intervention needs to happen, why this treatment court is so important.”
Reynolds and her father were estranged for a number of years, but they were able to reconnect. Her father went to counseling. And in his final years, as he suffered from brain disease and blindness, she cared for him in her home.
“Even though this man became a monster, I had to,” she said.
Persevering
Reynolds worries that veterans could be lost in the system without a full-time coordinator in Santa Rosa County. Even with veterans courts in Okaloosa and Escambia, there are transportation issues.
“They're not going to have that type of support over 20-some miles east or west,” she said. “And oh, by the way, let's get down to brass tacks. We have no public transportation in Santa Rosa County. How is our veteran on a bicycle going to get there?”
And though it will be skeletal operations, Santa Rosa’s veterans court will persevere, said Reynolds. There is a mentor for almost every veteran served in the program.
"Right now, I'm putting together a brochure of resources so that they can see where they can get food if they are running low from one paycheck to the next,” she said. “It is very sobering when you see the needs.”
“I am not giving up on this objective, this mission, these veterans, and these veterans’ families,” she said.
Support Local Stories. Donate Here.
“We've got 25 veterans in this court,” said Carmen Reynolds, a retired Air Force Lt. Col. “The apprehension is palpable as to what the court is going to be able to continue (to do), in spite of this veto.”
There are 33 veteran courts in Florida — Santa Rosa County is the newest. In its first year, the court served 25 veterans.
“At least one of them told a court member last week that had it not been for this program, he would have killed himself,” said Reynolds.
With the veto, the program has lost funding for its veterans treatment coordinator. This full-time position keeps track of the veteran and where they are in the program whether its meeting with a probation officer or keeping track of community service hours.
“The day the governor vetoed the bill is the day he found out he no longer has a job, and the veterans are left hanging,” Reynolds said.
RELATED: Veterans Court Helps Offenders Find Their Way
Another resource that has immediately stopped is the ability to serve veterans who do not have VA benefit entitlements, said Reynolds.
“So the court now with the veto, (the court) cannot afford to pay for a mental health counseling appointment, nor can they pay for any medical appointments that would traditionally be answered through (or) met through the VA,” she explained.
The court has also lost funding for urinalysis costs, which is about $35 per test. That cost will go to the veterans, which can be barrier to their recovery.
“Some of these folks have lost their jobs as a result of this — of an action that has gotten them into this court,” said Reynolds. “So that's not easy to come up with. The spouses may have to make up for that, and that causes financial issues.”
At least one of the veterans in the program lived at the Max-Well Respite Center, which announced it was closing last month.
Establishing Santa Rosa’s Veterans Court
Reynolds was instrumental in bringing a Veterans Court program to Santa Rosa County, which started last year on Sept. 11. One of the first people she called when she started to lay the groundwork was Rep. Patt Maney, whom she calls “the father of veterans court.”
Maney pushed for veterans courts in Florida while serving as a judge more than 15 years ago. As a U.S. Army Reservist, Maney suffered a traumatic brain injury serving in Afghanistan in 2005. He had to relearn how to do simple tasks. The experience led him to spearhead the court program that offers pretrial diversions and requires judges to consider veterans’ combat experience when making sentencing decisions.
Since she established the Santa Rosa County program, Reynolds has worked closely with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, which shares data on the number of veterans that come through the jail. In the past 19 months, a total of 596 veterans have come through the county jail, but not all would be candidates for the court, said Reynolds.
RELATED: County offices help the region’s many veterans access their VA benefits
“The entirety of them are not candidates for this court because we're not talking serious, super serious charges. Some of them are, you know, way down the road, and there's just no coming back from a 39-page rap sheet or something of that nature."
Most of Santa Rosa County was left without state representation during the legislative session after Rep. Joel Rudman left his District 3 post for a failed congressional race. Nathan Boyles won the special election in June, but by then, the session was just about over.
The bill sponsor for Santa Rosa’s Veterans Court was District 2 Representative Alex Andrade, who has faced backlash from Governor DeSantis for his investigation into Hope Florida. Most of the local vetoes were projects sponsored by Andrade.
Reynolds said the program receives small donations here and there, which are funneled from the Friends of the Santa Rosa Veterans Treatment Court nonprofit, but would be hard-pressed to replace the $150,000 lost.
She said she would love for the Governor to rescind his veto or provide an alternative funding.
“It's my belief that the governor doesn't even know that it's impacted veterans; he wore the uniform,” she said. “I'm not convinced that he knows this.”
An intervention
A 2017 study from the National Institute for Health that sampled data from 22,000 veterans shows better outcomes for veterans in the specialized program.
Veterans court programs take into consideration past traumas or injuries.
“You have to experience what we're talking about to really comprehend and grasp the situation,” said Reynolds. “Once the body and the brain have witnessed these traumatic experiences that these guys and gals have been involved in, whether they've been injured, whether they were in a blast, whether they were in an explosion, the brain immediately goes into fight or flight and it is in a revved up situation, perpetually.”
Reynolds knows firsthand how trauma can affect someone’s life. Her father, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, suffered physical injuries, including a broken leg and a head injury. Returning back home, he would have flashbacks of the horrors he witnessed. And he took his anger out on his family.
RELATED: Trump's VA cut a program that's saving vets' homes. Republicans have questions
After his tours, he returned “a very broken individual who didn’t know if he would go to hell for having killed the enemy,” said Reynolds.
“It haunted him,” she said. “He needed care. He needed intervention. I did not know anything about this at the time. My mother, the nurse, they were not trained for this.”
Reynolds said she ended up moving out of the house with her sister under police escort.
“I don’t lament that, but I wish it had been different,” she said. “But maybe I’m the poster child for why this intervention needs to happen, why this treatment court is so important.”
Reynolds and her father were estranged for a number of years, but they were able to reconnect. Her father went to counseling. And in his final years, as he suffered from brain disease and blindness, she cared for him in her home.
“Even though this man became a monster, I had to,” she said.
Persevering
Reynolds worries that veterans could be lost in the system without a full-time coordinator in Santa Rosa County. Even with veterans courts in Okaloosa and Escambia, there are transportation issues.
“They're not going to have that type of support over 20-some miles east or west,” she said. “And oh, by the way, let's get down to brass tacks. We have no public transportation in Santa Rosa County. How is our veteran on a bicycle going to get there?”
And though it will be skeletal operations, Santa Rosa’s veterans court will persevere, said Reynolds. There is a mentor for almost every veteran served in the program.
"Right now, I'm putting together a brochure of resources so that they can see where they can get food if they are running low from one paycheck to the next,” she said. “It is very sobering when you see the needs.”
“I am not giving up on this objective, this mission, these veterans, and these veterans’ families,” she said.