Know Your Rights: Veterans Who Are Incarcerated
You are not alone. Veterans retain certain rights and benefits even while incarcerated. Connecticut Veterans Legal Center has been proud to support Veterans who are incarcerated and those who are justice-involved, most-recently through partnerships with the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic.
We do not practice in the area of criminal law. If you are facing criminal charges, we highly recommend you hire or request an attorney to represent you. Connecticut is unfortunately one of only two states that does NOT have a Veteran Treatment Court (as of 2025).
Although we are able to provide legal services to incarcerated Veterans that fall into our practice areas, due to our capacity we are not able to provide direct legal services to incarcerated Veterans except in rare circumstances.
In order to fill this gap, we have created the below document that outlines your rights as a Veteran who is incarcerated.
"The biggest risk of recidivism is a lack of access to housing, income, and healthcare. The alleviation of poverty is essential in ensuring that veterans can move forward past incarceration. Thankfully, VA is a large resource available to veterans -- even while they are incarcerated. You can receive healthcare, compensation, even education -- all while serving your time. The more veterans take advantage of these benefits, the less risk they have of becoming incarcerated again."
– Chelsea Donaldson, CVLC Supervising Attorney, VA Benefits and Discharge Upgrade Unit
This memorandum provides general information only. It does not constitute legal advice, nor does it substitute for the advice of an expert representative or attorney who knows the particulars of your case. Any use you make of the information in this memorandum is at your own risk. We have made every effort to provide reliable, up-to-date information, but we do not guarantee its accuracy. LAST UPDATED 2/20/2025.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & INFORMATION
- For re-entry and other support, learn more about the VA’s Veteran Justice Outreach (VJO) program, housed in Connecticut at the CRRC. – link
- Learn more about the crisis of US Military Veteran incarceration from The War Horse (published April 18, 2024) – link
- About Veteran Treatment Courts: “The Soldier Bears the Deepest Wounds and Scars of War: Mobilizing Connecticut to Implement a Veterans Treatment Court Note” (2014). Connecticut Law Review. Authored by Rosendo Garza, Jr., former member of the CVLC Board of Directors – link
- Veterans Crisis Line. Call 988 +1 or text 838255 – link