According to an article posted online yesterday by Brad Stutzman on the Austin American-Statesman’s website, Williamson County is working on setting up a Veteran’s Court to assist military veterans who have service-related disabilities and who have been accused of committing non-violent crimes. Williamson County is designing their Veteran’s Court after the Veteran’s Court already operating in Travis County. What a shame that Bell County not only isn’t the state-wide model, but even worse–we aren’t even planning on adding one anytime soon!

In spite of the fact that Bell County proudly proclaims on the homepage of the county’s website that Bell County is “a great choice to call home,” we may not be such a great choice for the numerous veterans residing here. Bell County’s website claims that it is “home to Fort Hood” and that with a “capacity of 50,000 troops, it is the largest military installation in the free world.” It sure seems that Bell County likes to pretend that it is proud of our resident military personnel and retirees, doesn’t it?

If Bell County is so proud, though, then why are we so far behind the times in implementing a Veteran’s Court? I have been arguing that Bell County should have been the first county to do so since December of 2009! (Post here).

I guess if enough of our veterans start moving south and the county’s tax revenues decrease enough, then maybe Bell County will feel the pressure to do something good for all of those who have sacrificed so much for us!

The full story is available here.