Commissioners approved the establishment of a veterans court docket at their Sept. 24 meeting following a presentation from Kathy Pierce, chair of the county's Mental Health Task Force.

Pierce said a veterans court model is a hybrid of drug and mental health courts and aims to get veterans charged with misdemeanor offenses help they would not receive in traditional court.

From Jan. 1 to Sept. 17, more than 500 veterans were arrested and jailed in Williamson County, Pierce said, many on drug- or alcohol-related charges.

Pierce was tasked to start paperwork to establish the new docket at the Sept. 24 meeting.