By Brian Klas
TDCAA Training Director in Austin
Nostalgia is a seductive time sink, and it is one I occasionally succumb to. Recently, while digging around for an old jury selection chart, I found myself eyeballing TDCAA training brochures and binders from days gone by.
I went all the way back to the early 1990s. That is before my time with the association, but I assure you all, it was not that long ago. It is unsurprising that I came across agendas for courses that covered the same types of cases, topics, and sub-topics that we cover today. Turns out, people have been drinking too much booze and getting behind the wheel of a car for a long time. Shocking.
What became interesting was the deeper detail of how these topics were being covered. So much has changed. It isn’t fair to say that training today is better than it was a few decades ago. The law is different. Juries are different. The world is different. To remain effective, training must also be different. Time’s constant companion, inevitable change, prohibits perfection in prosecution. Good prosecutors don’t arrive—but they make sure they are always on the way. Good training has to keep up.
Prosecuting Homicide & Adult Sexual Assault Conference
This spring and summer, TDCAA’s training continues to be on the way. In April, your training committee has built an innovative agenda to cover issues in both homicide and adult sexual assault cases. Separate tracks will address the most difficult voir dire concepts in today’s trials. In addition, a three-hour block on individual voir dire has been set aside for even deeper jury selection coverage. Later talks will be mixed as many topics address concepts as they apply to both homicide and sexual assault cases. Attendees may have some hard decisions to make regarding what presentations to attend, but time is a finite resource. All course materials will be available to all attendees. And, if two perfect topics overlap, maybe you can bring a friend or even make a new one to cover both.
Fundamentals of Management
In keeping with our need to adapt to our members’ needs, this year will also see an expansion of our standalone Fundamentals of Management offerings from PMI (the Prosecutor Management Institute). This popular course remains available to those counties who want to host it on their home turf—information about that more traditional delivery model is available on TDCAA’s website.[1] The standalone courses, which are always held in Austin, are intended for individuals who missed the training in their counties or are otherwise unable to schedule a local course. The Austin classes provide training in the skills and development necessary for strong management in today’s prosecutor offices. At the time of publishing, our June courses may already be full, but two August courses will open for registration soon. Keep an eye out—they fill up fast.
Advanced Trial Advocacy Course
The final event I would like to highlight is our yearly Advanced Trial Advocacy Course. It continues to target the most difficult cases being tried and the special skills to successfully prosecute them. This year, the focus will be on sexual assault of a child. Tarrant County prosecutors Madeline Jones and Dale Smith, our course directors, have identified a strong case to build the training around with a special focus on older child victims. Attendees will spend a week at Baylor Law School working in small groups with
some of the best trial attorneys in the state. There they will hone their advocacy skills and learn new techniques to ensure they see justice done. Remember, this training is available by application only. If you are on the fence about applying, get off the fence. Not everyone can make it into this limited-attendance course, but failing to apply guarantees you won’t get in. And remember, no one has already arrived—this is a growth profession.
Other great conferences in 2026
Built by prosecutors for prosecutors, TDCAA training targets the needs of our entire service group. In addition to the above conferences, the remainder of 2026 will bring our usual gamut of training opportunities. The Civil Law Conference in May will focus on the unique issues faced by prosecutors carrying a civil caseload with both expected legal updates and brand-new discussions. Our Annual Conference, for the first time ever, will be held in Waco. I’m excited for all of you to see what our committees and the city have to offer.
On the heels of Annual, our KP–VAC Conference will endeavor to meet the needs of the people whose work keeps the prosecution train on its tracks. During all of this, our online library will expand and evolve, our DWI training will visit a location near you, and our new Domestic Violence 101 course will continue meeting this long-term training need. In 2027 we will do it all over again. The topics we cover will look familiar, but I hope there are changes in the details.
[1] www.tdcaa.com/prosecutor-management-institute-pmi.