Judge John Roach Jr. has been volunteering his time for the North Texas Regional Veterans Court since it began in 2016.

Though he travels hundreds of miles a week to do it, presiding over that court, it is not Roach’s only job. He has been the presiding judge of the 296th District Court in Collin County since 2006. That court hears felony criminal, civil, family law and child protection cases.

Friday morning locals gathered at the Grayson County Courthouse to celebrate a program aimed at helping those who have served this nation get their lives back on track and the man who holds the program together.

Roach pioneered and continues to preside over the nation’s first region-wide Veterans Court initiative, the North Texas Regional Veterans Court which has become the model program for Regional Veterans’ Courts across the country.

Local officials in the criminal justice system approved the idea of the Veteran’s Court as a way to help reduce crowding in the county jail while also helping people who need treatment more than punishment to deal with their interactions with law enforcement.

Graduation from the program is not easy or guaranteed.

“We don’t call it a graduation. We call it a commencement,” Roach has said as he spoke about the people who completed the program.

That is because, Roach said, they are not ending anything but beginning the next chapter of their lives.

The program takes veterans who have been involved in the criminal justice system, assesses their needs and offers them help managing situations with treatment aimed at allowing them to successfully take part in society again.

Supported by a grant from the Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veteran’s assistance, the program charges participants a fee not to exceed $1,000. They must also pay for urinalysis, drug or alcohol monitoring devices, evaluations and inpatient or outpatient treatment and counseling.

To be considered for the program a person must either be a current member of the military or a veteran of armed services including the Reserves, National Guard or State Guard and their offense must be somehow connected to their military service.

If a person is accepted into the program, their case is transferred to Veteran’s Court.

There are periodic reviews of the case as the person makes his or her way through the program set out for them by the court and they are rewarded for success and sometimes punished for setbacks.

The program is a 3- phase program lasting 12-to-24 months. The period directly relates to the participant’s needs and or compliance. Those who successfully complete the program can have their criminal cases dropped and expunged from their records. Those who drop out or who don’t successfully complete the program see their cases diverted back to the court where the case was originally filed.

Former Grayson County Justice of the Peace Rita Noel who has been involved with the Veterans Court for years said they just had to stop to celebrate Roach this week and all of the people who have made it through the program.

“By the way, he was really surprised today. He has a huge heart for our Veterans,” she said. She also added she was happy to see so many of the people who have been involved in the court over the years come to the celebration.

She said when she became involved with the court, she to contribute in some way to show local veterans that they were supported.

“So as Judge Roach deemed us “The Breakfast Club.” We provide breakfast before they go to Court. It gives us a chance to get to know each other. Sometimes even offer services. We couldn’t do it alone we have all the support from our community. Individuals, organizations, businesses and non profits they too want to show their support for our Veterans,” she said.

Roach’s biography states that he works with courts across the country on establishing Veteran Courts with a particular emphasis on regional courts. The Marine Corps veteran served as a Crash, Fire and Rescue Specialist in the United States Marine Corps Reserves and was placed on active duty in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm before being honorably discharged in 1996.

He launched the Collin County Veterans Court in 2013, and he recognized the need for such a court in the smaller, more rural North Texas counties that could not support a Veterans Court on their own.

His desire to make that happen led to the partnership of the five North Texas counties that make up North Texas Regional Veterans Court including Collin, Rockwall, Grayson, Kaufman, and Fannin counties.

Roach travels each Friday to preside over his veteran court cases, while performing his other judicial duties, consisting of over 2,400 cases the rest of the week.

He and his team travel some 600 miles each month to bring the veteran court resources to judicially involved veterans who would not otherwise have access to the benefits of a Veterans’ Court. Roach has said that he does not want a single Veteran to go without the necessary treatment and resources simply due to an artificial line on a map.

This passion led to the creation of the VALOR, or Veterans Accessing Lifelong Opportunities for Rehabilitation, work and treatment program.

Back in 2022, one of the men graduating from the program told the Herald Democrat that his driving while intoxicated case was a wakeup call. At the time of his final appearance before the court, he had been sober for 18 months.

“I want to be a new person. I want to be a new man,” he said before telling those still in the program that they will have to work hard at it, but ultimately, they will get out of the program what they put into it.

The next session of the court is slated for March 21 and the public is invited to attend at the Grayson County courthouse in Sherman.