(Harrisburg) -- Military veterans are being asked to serve as volunteers in specialized courts to help fellow vets who have entered the criminal justice system. Veterans Treatment Courts aim to not just process nonviolent defendants coming through the justice system, but promote their sobriety and stability. Now, the state Supreme Court is launching an online training program for volunteers to serve as mentors in the courts. Chief Justice Ronald Castille says it helps if the mentors are themselves veterans, people who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and can relate to the large group of veterans who come before courts right now. But, he says older veterans are a helpful presence in Veterans Court as well. "It’s always nice to have a senior-type person, you know, someone that’s been perhaps a Vietnam veteran, or even World War Two, although there’s not too many of them," he says. The first Veterans Court in Pennsylvania opened in Lackawanna County in 2009, following the model of a court in Buffalo, New York. Eight such courts are in operation across the state, with plans to open four more next year. Veterans Courts are operating in Northumberland and Berks counties. Those being planned include four midstate counties -- Cumberland, York, Dauphin, Lebanon and Lancaster.