The Maricopa County Attorney is dedicated to the vigorous prosecution of those who commit crimes within the county. As the chief advocate for the State and the citizens of the community in criminal matters, the County Attorney seeks to provide the highest quality service and maintain the integrity of the criminal justice system. Criminals must be held accountable, while assuring that the statutory rights and emotional needs of victims and witnesses are properly addressed. Additionally, the County Attorney seeks to implement, promote and participate in programs that reduce crime and enhance the quality of community life. The County Attorney also contributes to excellence in local government by providing complete legal services to the county, its officers and various political subdivisions.

The Arizona Department of Corrections is one of the largest departments in Arizona State Government. It serves and protects the people of the state of Arizona by incarcerating inmates in correctional facilities and supervising conditionally released offenders in the community. During incarceration, medical care and other health and welfare services are provided to inmates. In addition, programs such as work, education, training, substance abuse treatment, sex offender treatment, and spiritual services are provided to inmates to promote employability, literacy, sobriety, and accountability to crime victims and to increase the likelihood that released inmates will become law-abiding citizens upon release.

Several jurisdictions across the United States have created specialized Veterans Courts, which employ a drug court-adapted therapeutic approach to funnel justice system-involved veterans to counseling and support services that are closely monitored by the court. Despite the emergence of Veterans Courts, little is known regarding the prevalence of military veterans in the criminal justice system, the nature of their cases and prior experiences, as well how combat-related conditions such as PTSD or TBI may have contributed to their involvement in the system. This report seeks to address the knowledge gap in this area through an examination of 2,102 recently booked arrestees in Maricopa County, Arizona. Using interview data from the Arizona Arrestee Reporting Information Network (AARIN), the report characterizes the problems and prior experiences of military veterans, and to compare veteran and nonveteran arrestees along a range of demographic, background and criminal behavior measures. The overall objectives of the paper are to determine the prevalence of military veterans in the Maricopa County arrestee population and to assess the extent to which the arrested veterans differ from the larger arrestee population.

In early 2009, an Exploratory Committee was formed to investigate the potential creation of a Veterans Court in Maricopa County, Arizona. The Committee’s initial efforts have focused on examining existing Veterans Courts and determining the size and scope of the problem (i.e., the number of veterans in the county jail). This report provides an overview of information on veterans in the Maricopa County Jail System, drawing on data collected by the Arizona Arrestee Reporting Information Network (AARIN). This report is intended to assist the work of the Veterans Court Exploratory Committee.

In about 60% of the cases sentenced in Pima County, the offender will be placed on supervised probation for an average of three years. Protection of the community is always the primary consideration when determining a supervision program. To ensure long-term protection requires motivating the offender to change those factors that contributed to criminal behavior. Based on empirical research conducted by social scientists, certain dynamic factors are common to offenders and are targets for change.