By Rob Kepple
TDCAF Executive Director in Austin
Since the 1970s, TDCAA has enjoyed some form of grant funding to support the mission of educating Texas prosecutors. The profession has been fortunate to have grant funding from the Judicial and Court Personnel Training Program ably administered by the Court of Criminal Appeals. That funding is essential to deliver the quality training and support prosecutors need. But as anyone who works in a government office knows, sometimes a single source of support isn’t enough to get the job done.
Enter Tom Krampitz, a former executive director of TDCAA, who coined the saying “two dollars of services for every dollar of grant funding”—meaning, the association has always found a way to make its funding go farther. That principle has been one of the keys to TDCAA’s success, as leadership sought to diversify and build support for the myriad live conferences, online courses, books and manuals, and needed personnel. And the principle is reflected in the Foundation’s 2024 Annual Report (find it below). In 2024, the CCA grant accounted for 48 percent of the support to TDCAA. The rest came from other sources, including a modest 2 percent from the Foundation.
I say modest, but I submit it is important for a few reasons. First, the Foundation is young and growing. With an endowment hovering at around $1 million and increasing, there is a promise of future support. Second, the Foundation funds some core training activities, including the Advanced Trial and Appellate Advocacy Courses, Train the Trainer, and the Prosecutor Management Institute (which was developed with Foundation funds). Third, the Foundation offers the stability to not only pay for some training mainstays, but also the flexibility to jump in when needed and supplement grant funding. A few examples:
• for many years the Foundation has supported the work of our Victim Services Director with salary and then supplemental funding;
• when last-minute construction at a host hotel disrupted a TDCAA conference, the Foundation quickly came to the rescue, paying to move the course to a new (and even better) venue;
• the Foundation helped pay for filming and production for the mandatory Brady training that every prosecutor must regularly take;
• with no other funds available, the Foundation provided each attendee of January’s Prosecutor Trial Skills Course with a copy of the Family Violence Manual;
• the Foundation is committed to funding production of an upcoming two-hour online ethics presentation; and
• the Foundation is committed to providing ongoing financial support for the critical work of the new Domestic Violence Resource Prosecutor position.
Being able to nimbly jump in and support a project when other funding is not immediately available is a strength of the Foundation.
Finally, the Foundation gives prosecutors a way to recognize folks with “in honor of” or “in memory of” pledges. It also gives those in the profession a way to recognize others who are dedicated to justice with a nomination and membership in the Texas Prosecutors Society.
So when you have a moment, I urge you to take a look at 2024’s Annual Report. It’s a page-turner!