Focused on providing for the needs of court-involved veterans, Huntingdon County President Judge George Zanic has announced the intent to establish a regional veterans treatment court.

“Veterans treatment courts open the door to new opportunities for court-involved veterans,” said Huntingdon County President Judge George Zanic. “Far too often, individuals find themselves in our courtrooms feeling defeated and as if hope is lost.

“By creating a regional treatment court, we would be offering a chance for our veterans to face their challenges with the support of their peers and the entire treatment court system. Forming a judicial district partnership signals to our court-involved veterans that regardless of the struggles they face, we’re offering them the opportunity to change their lives and start out on a new path.”

Judges from Huntingdon, Blair, Clinton, Juniata, Perry, Clearfield, Centre and Mifflin Counties will be able to participate in the regional treatment court and join in the mission to reduce recidivism and honor the service of veterans by providing veteran offenders the chance to participate in intensive, treatmentbased, veteran focused court supervision programs.

Pennsylvania currently has 25 county Veterans Court programs, the first of which opened in Lackawanna County in Nov. 2009.

“Too often we see veterans in smaller counties falling through the cracks of the system, simply because they never knew there were options available to them,” said Clinton County Judge Michael Salisbury. “By establishing this new regional court, we’re giving veterans in rural parts of the state the same chance at a positive outcome as those in the more metropolitan areas.”