A 14 member committee has been named to make recommendations about the possible creation of a specialty criminal court in Brazos County serving veterans and those with mental health issues.
The group includes members of the Jewett VFW and the Bryan American Legion, along with the veterans administration, Texas A&M’s veterans resource office, the health district, the local mental health and mental retardation office, and county judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers.
A request by a member of the Bryan VFW to be a part of the committee, which was supported by commissioner Steve Aldrich, was rejected by the commission majority. County judge Duane Peters said he “had no problem with leaving the committee as it is.”
Aldrich later voted against the composition of the committee.
Peters agreed to another request from Aldrich that committee chairman, retired general Bentley Nettles, return as soon as possible to discuss how the committee will go about its work. Aldrich wanted to know “whether they’re (the committee) was going to meet all together as a group, whether they’re going to be working individually and then coming to that. I think it would benefit the commissioners court well to know what the process is going to be.”
Click below to hear comments from the March 21, 2023 Brazos County commission meeting: