Veterans and active duty military personnel suffering from trauma or mental health issues may be eligible for “military diversion” in lieu of jail time in California.

Military Diversion, established in January 2016, is a pretrial program for current or former members of any branch of the United States Military charged with misdemeanor crimes.  Regarding eligibility, the court must find that these defendants may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental illness as a result of their military service.  This is a collaborative program of the Probation Department, San Mateo County Superior Court, Private Defender Program, District Attorney's Office, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Participants attend court review hearings and work towards successful completion of the program by completing counseling and/or treatment and full payment of victim restitution.  Upon successful completion, participants' charges are dismissed.  To date, there have been 15 individuals that graduated from the program.