A court program designed to help our service men and women celebrates its first anniversary this month.

The El Paso Veterans Court program is officially a year old.

There are two programs that fall under this program -- for misdemeanors and, as of last summer, felonies.

The court meets every Wednesday afternoon.

The idea behind the program is to give those who have served in hazardous or combat duty, have been diagnosed with a mental illness and are approved through the district attorney's office a second chance if they have violated the law.

The judge who runs the court says that while, yes, most these soldiers will likely be punished through the justice system, the court is also designed to help rehabilitate them.

"If it's a felony offense, they can go five to 10 years for probation. In our court, with our help, and our treatment orientation, they can be done in 18 months. As you heard in court, at the very end of the 18 months and they successfully complete the program, the law says the case will be dismissed," 346th District Judge Angie Barill said.

Barill said a total of six people have used the court.

Forty people have applied, but she said they didn't meet all of the criteria.

Barill told KFOX 14 close to a thousand soldiers have been processed through the jail from February 2011 until February 2012.

She also said 300 soldiers or vets are on probation.

This is the first time El Paso County and city have kept track of how many soldiers and veterans have gone through the jail.

The sheriff's office says the general jail population from February 2011 to this month is just more than 35,000.

Meanwhile, Barill says the court is still evolving.

She has a staff today.

"When I first started this program, I had zero money. I had zero funding. I had zero employees," Barill said.

Grants fixed that, but moving forward a lack money could be a problem. 

"We are working with our representatives, hoping that they will hear us out," Barill said.

She says our justice system owes those in the military a second chance.

"This is for a good cause. This is for our service men and women who have serviced our country and we need to now help them," Barill said.