Jacksonville Judge Mose Floyd, a Marine for 22 Years, Joins the Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame for Leading Duval's Veterans Treatment Court

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Duval County Judge Mose L. Floyd, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who presides over Jacksonville's Veterans Treatment Court, was inducted into the Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame on Nov. 5 at the state Capitol in Tallahassee. He was the only Northeast Florida member of the five-person Class of 2026, according to the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs. "Leaving no man left behind is not a slogan, it is a way of life," Floyd said, as quoted by The Florida Bar News.

The Hall of Fame honors veterans whose work during or after military service made a significant contribution to Florida. For Floyd, that work has largely happened on Wednesday mornings in a downtown Jacksonville courtroom, where veterans facing criminal charges can trade a conventional prosecution for treatment, mentoring and close court supervision. Here is a look at the judge and the court he leads.

From Annapolis to the bench

Floyd is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the Marine Corps from 1977 to 1999, retiring as a lieutenant colonel, according to The Florida Bar News. He later earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He worked as an assistant state attorney in Jacksonville before he was appointed to the Duval County Court in 2011, the Bar News reported.

His Marine identity has stayed visible on the bench. On Nov. 5, 2025, exactly a year before his induction, Floyd held a special session of the Veterans Treatment Court to mark the Marine Corps' 250th birthday, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. He cut the birthday cake with Sgt. Angel Cruz Jr., using his own Marine officer's Mameluke sword, the paper reported.

The court he runs

The Duval County Veterans Treatment Court meets Wednesdays at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 212 of the Duval County Courthouse, 501 W. Adams St., according to the Fourth Judicial Circuit. It offers substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment or both to current and former service members charged with a crime connected to their military service. The circuit lists post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma and service-related substance abuse among the conditions it targets.

Participants get drug and alcohol testing, regular court appearances, one-on-one support from a peer mentor, help reaching VA health care and benefits, and community supervision, the circuit says. Proceedings are confidential. The court was established in Duval County in 2013 with help from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration and community volunteers, and it is one of 10 problem-solving courts in the circuit, the Daily Record reported in March.

"The thing that makes veteran's treatment court work is it's veterans taking care of veterans," Floyd said, according to The Florida Bar News. He told the Bar News that the court saves lives, careers and families. WJCT's First Coast Connect featured Floyd and David Abramowitz, a senior volunteer mentor for the court, in an April 2025 segment.

What the numbers showed

In a 2022 commentary published in the Daily Record, Floyd wrote that the court had graduated 145 veterans in the roughly five years since he became presiding judge. Of those graduates, 12 were rearrested and prosecuted, and five were found guilty, he wrote. "That is an extremely low recidivism rate, representing many lives that have been completely turned around, if not saved," Floyd wrote.

He described a program that lasts at least a year and moves through five phases, with the first three the hardest. Each veteran is paired with a veteran mentor, and inpatient treatment can be required in severe cases, he wrote. "Veterans Treatment Court is a diversionary court, but unlike most other courts, VTC is non-adversarial," he wrote, adding that "the veteran must be willing to do the work."

A change from Tallahassee

Lawmakers this year approved HB 199, which makes the judge and the treatment team the main gatekeepers for entry into veterans court, as they are in other specialty courts, the Daily Record reported in March. Under the old process, a potential participant first needed permission from the state attorney, while the bill has judges consult with the state attorney instead. The Senate passed its version 37-0 on Feb. 26, and Floyd told the paper, "That will streamline everything."

About the Hall of Fame

The Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame was set up by state law in 2011, and each inductee's name goes on a plaque on the Plaza Level of the Capitol along the northeast front wall, according to Florida Statutes. A council accepts nominations each year and sends up to five names to the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and the governor and Cabinet pick the inductees. The law tells the council to favor veterans who were born in Florida or adopted it as their home.

The Governor and Cabinet approved the Class of 2026 on Sept. 29, according to Villages-News, and the ceremony was held at 10 a.m. in the Cabinet Room. The class was the 14th, the Department of Veterans' Affairs said. Floyd was inducted with former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum of Longwood, Bill Wallace Merryman of Crystal River, Lesley J. "Les" Miller Jr. of Tampa and retired Navy Capt. Elizabeth "Betsy" Nolan of The Villages.

How to learn more

The honor lands less than a week before Veterans Day on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Veterans or family members with questions about the program can find its handbook and staff contacts on the Fourth Judicial Circuit's website, jud4.org. The court's page also sets eligibility rules tied to military service and discharge status, so families should read those first.