Five years after he separated from the Army, Mark Bisset found himself in the Colorado criminal justice system.

Bisset’s story started on April 9, 2022. According to past Gazette coverage of the case, the arrest stemmed from an alleged incident in which Bisset rode a four-wheeler to a property in the Indian Creek subdivision in Florissant and threatened the owner. He was charged with several felonies, including burglary, menacing, trespassing, child abuse and weapons charges.

The Teller County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Facebook shortly after that Bisset, a deputy at the time, was terminated — effective immediately.

However, what arresting documents did not detail was Bisset’s extensive military background, including over a dozen deployments. His 12 years in the Army left him with physical and emotional side effects, including PTSD and multiple traumatic brain injuries.

NOT ALONE

Bisset’s story is not unique. At any given time, Veterans Trauma Court Program Coordinator Kisten Born says between 120 and 150 veterans are sitting in the El Paso County jail. Many times, those individuals are in jail for PTSD-related incidents.

Bisset was one of a handful who joined the Veterans Trauma Court program as a way to resolve his case while getting the help he needed.

The Veterans Trauma Court is a state-and grant-funded program that “provides an alternative to incarceration for U.S. military veterans and active-duty military personnel,” according to its website.

The program aims to provide resources to veterans who have found themselves in the criminal justice system after their service. The program hopes to reintegrate veterans back into civilian life by addressing the root causes of the legal issues, such as PTSD, substance abuse and more.

“These people have earned it. They’ve earned our help,” Born said.

Bisset described the program as a “big, strange AA meeting with a judge.” However, he found what he had been missing for the last five years without the Army.

Camaraderie.

“They’re not going to let you fail,” Bisset said. “Every aspect of your life, they’ll assist and make sure that you’re squared away.”

Bisset finally had a group of people around who supported him and were truly on his side, like the closeness he found with his Army friends. At the time of his separation, Bisset was a Special Forces weapons sergeant and a Green Beret.

Originally from the East Coast, Bisset was inspired to join the military because of 9/11. The military is what moved him to Colorado Springs. He spent a dozen years in the Army before he was forced out in 2017 due to medical concerns. Once out, he said he felt “lost,” and didn’t know what he wanted to do.

He found his way to being a deputy for the Teller County Sheriff’s Office because he needed a job.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Bisset said. “If somebody had suggested being a ballerina when I was talking to different people, I might have ended up a ballerina.”

Bisset was prepared to go to trial over his charges, but right at the last second, a plea deal involving Veterans Trauma Court fell into his lap. He started in the problem-solving court in January 2023 and would spend the next year and a half in treatment before graduating in June 2024.

“We’re going through just regular proceedings initially,” Bisset said. “Then we got to the week before trial, they called and said, ‘Hey, we have a deal for you.’”

‘YOU CAN’T FORGET ABOUT IT’

Veterans Trauma Court is not for those who wish to fight their charges, but those who want to accept responsibility and get help with the trauma or substance abuse that led them into the criminal justice system.

While it emphasizes treatment over punishment, it is still not an easy program to get through, according to Born.

“People that think we’re being easy on them; we’re not,” Born said. “For the first month or two they’re in the program, they have to come back every single week and come to court. … It’s that accountability piece.”

Bisset said the hardest part of his time in the program was waking up every day and being reminded of the 2022 incident because of how much treatment and follow-up participants go through.

“You began your day, every day, with a slap in the face that you’re a part of the court program,” Bisset said. “You can’t even forget about it. That’s the hardest part of it, I think.”

ENTHUSIASM FOR TREATMENT

While going through the problem-solving court, Bisset took advantage of each and every treatment opportunity, including spending a month in Denver working on his brain health at the Marcus Institute for Brain Health in Aurora. Many of the treatments he had access to within the program, Bisset said, would never have been available to him outside of the judicial system.

“I jumped in with both feet. I volunteered for every treatment there was,” Bisset said.

Something Bisset really struggled with after leaving the military was the term “PTSD,” suffering from impostor syndrome. He says he “knew what he signed up for.”

“Originally, I hated that term,” Bisset said. “I used to hate hearing about all this PTSD stuff. But then, the longer I had been out and the more I was around people, seeing people that have PTSD, then I got it.”

“I’m just starting to actually deal with this acceptance and allowing myself to feel,” he added.

Born said all problem-solving courts, including veterans courts, are turning the judicial system on its head. The 4th Judicial District has several problem-solving courts, including a domestic violence court, DUI court, recovery court and family treatment and drug court.

“We inherited our court system from the English, and we are really good at, and what the English are really good at, is what I call whacking people with a stick,” Born said. “And now we’re better at using carrots, the whole psychology of behavior modification.”

‘HE MADE THAT PROGRAM’

Veterans Trauma Court started in 2013 and was initially led by former district Judge David Shakes, who retired at the end of September. Judge Samuel Evig took his place shortly after.

Bisset spoke highly of Shakes, saying he was a large part of why he succeeded in the program.

“He made that program. I don’t know how successful I would have been under somebody else,” Bisset said. “When I try to imagine somebody else sitting on the bench, I don’t know if I would have gotten everything that I had gotten out of it, or maybe I would have been in the program longer because I would have been resisting what they were trying to offer.”

The program came to be after a public defender who represented a veteran sentenced to prison over actions during a PTSD flashback thought some change was in order.

“They ended up sending him to prison, and it just broke her heart,” Born said. “She had heard about vet courts, and she got with a judge, the former DA and the sheriff, and they basically all agreed that this jurisdiction would benefit from having a Vet Court program.”

Nowadays, Bisset attends every graduation ceremony to speak and is in training to be a mentor for the program. Having gone through the program and benefited from it, Bisset loves to encourage those who are just starting.

“This place can replace that support network and the security network we lost. Just trust it,” Bisset said. “It’s like the military. It’s so big, and it’s been going on for so long that it’s not going to fail.”

Anthony Griego, the lead mentor coordinator for the program, spoke highly of Bisset. Despite not working with Bisset extensively while he was going through the program, Griego has been training Bisset for the mentor role.

“He wants to give back, and he understands how the mentor team helped him when he was in the program, and he wants to be part of that,” Griego said. “I think he’ll be able to help.”

Griego anticipates that Bisset will start serving as a mentor in early 2026, once he is off probation.

Despite everything that had happened that landed him in the criminal justice system, Bisset said he wouldn’t take any of it back because what he gained out of Veterans Trauma Court was that impactful.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Bisset said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today. … I wouldn’t have changed the paths had I not gone to Vet Court. I would have continued down the same path of self-destructive behavior, sabotaging everything and hating the world.”