Veterans Treatment Court launches in Grand Forks Monday, May 15, 2023

Northeast Central Judicial District Presiding Judge Don Hager conducted the “Stand Up” ceremony for the first Veterans Treatment Court in North Dakota on May 12 in Grand Forks.

State Commissioner of Veteran’s Affairs Lonnie Wangen was the keynote speaker.

North Dakota was one of two states in the nation without a Veteran’s Treatment Court and now Vermont stands alone with that distinction.

Chief Justice Jon Jensen attended the ceremony remotely and Justice Jerod Tufte attended the ceremony in-person and addressed the audience assembled.

Additional remarks were provided by Mary Schneider, a state legislator from Fargo, and Dr. Breton Weintraub, physician and Fargo VA Health Care System Director.

The ceremony included the University of North Dakota ROTC detachment providing a color guard for the opening ceremony and Air Force 1st Lieutenant (Chaplain) Levi Paradee provided the invocation.  Air Force SMSgt. (retired) Kim Higgs, Veterans Treatment Court Coordinator,  led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Photo by Kelly Hutton