By Shannon Edmonds
TDCAA Executive Director in Austin
In our previous issue, I spoke about what I call “the Rupture” that happened to our society around 2020 and how it affected prosecutors. The resulting challenges to recruitment, retention, and reputation are still felt today, yet many of you are taking steps to improve morale within your offices and bolster your communities’ external views of your offices. Here are some examples of the latter that I wanted to share so that others can benefit from our members’ good ideas.
Office publications
The office of Tarrant County Criminal DA Phil Sorrells does a bang-up job of keeping that community up-to-date on how his office is serving citizens and keeping them safe. The office is active on social media, but I wanted to hold up its quarterly and annual publications as a great example of transparency and information. The office issues “The Docket” on a quarterly basis to highlight issues and specific verdicts, along with examples of community involvement and recognitions. The office also puts out an Annual Report chock full of data and other information culled from various issues of The Docket. Together, these publications give that community a window into the operations of their prosecutor’s office and highlight the good work it is doing. Visit www.tarrantcountytx.gov/en/criminal-district-attorney.html to learn more about those publications.
Community relations
Many of you offer some variation of a “prosecutor academy” to educate constituents about what you do and how you do it. One successful example that I’ve long admired is run by Collin County Criminal DA Greg Willis. Offered twice per year, that academy covers the local criminal justice system from soup to nuts thanks to the active involvement of Greg and his staff, who work extra hours to educate and inform their constituents and address misconceptions they may have. For more on that program, visit https://collincountyda.com/citizen-prosecutor-academy. That office also runs a student internship program to help identify and train the next generation of criminal justice professionals, which is another great way to interact with your local community; you can find more information about that initiative on the office website as well.
Podcasts
I was thrilled to get an email a few months ago from Assistant County Attorney Aaron Setliff in El Paso alerting me to a new joint enterprise from The 915: a prosecution podcast! “Justice Matters” is a joint venture by El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez and 34th Judicial District Attorney James Montoya, who are both in their first terms in those offices. Co-hosted by Aaron from the CA’s Office and Stephanie Valle from the DA’s Office, the podcast offers unique insight into both offices’ operations and helps to introduce to their community the men and women who serve there. If you’ve ever thought about launching a podcast—and frankly, who among us with a lengthy commute has not?—then check out Justice Matters Podcast on your platform of choice and listen to how our friends in El Paso have approached that medium.
Hotel reimbursement change
I wanted to alert everyone to an unforeseen change in our grant funding for FY 2026 that could affect attendees of future TDCAA conferences.
Unfortunately, the judicial court personnel grant training funds we use to put on such great conferences were cut by 20 percent for Fiscal Year 2026 (which starts on September 1 for us). After some emergency brainstorming sessions with TDCAA’s Executive Committee, we submitted a revised application, which was approved. The primary impact of this slimmed-down funding is a reduction in hotel reimbursements for attendees of in-person conferences other than the Annual and Elected Prosecutor Conferences. In the recent past, we have reimbursed lodging costs using federal GSA rates ($110 to $181 per night depending upon the location), but going forward, we must cap those reimbursements at $85 per night for conferences other than the Annual and Elected Prosecutor Conferences. (By the way, $85 was also the maximum reimbursement during the pandemic, aka “The Rupture” we discussed last issue—see, you can’t get away from it!)
We recognize that reducing hotel reimbursements on the heels of raising conference fees earlier this calendar year are an unwelcome one-two punch to some of your training budgets, but we believe that is the best way to meet our membership’s needs without cancelling entire conferences. This new reimbursement policy will take effect after September’s Annual Criminal & Civil Law Conference, so those of you currently in county budget negotiations can, we hope, factor that into your planning. If you have any questions about these changes, please don’t hesitate to call or email me.
Bon voyage
It’s always bittersweet when a stalwart of our profession makes the difficult decision to move on. That emotional conflict hit us at TDCAA squarely in the feels when we learned that Galveston County Criminal DA Jack Roady was resigning at the end of September to accept a faculty position at Houston Christian University. Jack has served his fellow Texans as a prosecutor for almost 25 years, the last 15 of those as an elected prosecutor. In that time, he has served on darn near every TDCAA committee and board there is. In addition to volunteering for our Legislative, Nominations, Training, Long-Range Planning, By-Laws, and Finance Committees, he served multiple terms on our Board of Directors, including a leadership stint as President and Chairman of the Board. In these ways and others, Jack has been a living example to all of us of authentic servant leadership. He has not just talked the talk; he has also walked the walk.
And that walk is not done! By taking his talents to higher education, Jack will be directing the formation of the next generation of legal professionals. Like the examples cited above, this is another way that prosecutors can repair the societal damage sustained by our profession even after leaving that profession. I have no doubt that our good friend Jack will positively impact the lives of many young students, some of whom may even be inspired to follow their professor’s footsteps into a career in prosecution. If so, we will be all the better for it, I have no doubt of that.
Godspeed and bon voyage, Jack!
Looking ahead
We have some great content in this issue that will also help you in your important mission. We don’t intentionally have “themes” for this journal, but if we did, “technology” might be the theme of this one. Inside you will find helpful discussions of the legal challenges surrounding remote testimony, the hurdles to be cleared to obtain remotely stored electronic data, and the latest guidance from the Court of Criminal Appeals on the use of geofence warrants. For all that high-tech talk and more, read on!