You can look up the status of a criminal case on the Travis County Odyssey Portal. You can also lookup an upcoming court setting in a criminal case on the Travis County Criminal Docket Search website. For more information, see Find Information About a Criminal Case.

Law enforcement agencies will send a case to TCDA for prosecution only after they have made an arrest. If the arrested individual is a juvenile or if the crime charged is a felony offense, the case will be prosecuted by TCDA. Felony cases have a cause number that begins “D-1-DC”. Misdemeanor cases are handled by the Travis County Attorney’s Office. TCDA does not have jurisdiction to prosecute federal offenses or crimes that occur outside of Travis County.

You can search for people being held in a Travis County jail on the Travis County Sheriff’s Office website. You can search for a people being held in a Texas state prison on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website.

The criminal courthouse is located in the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Complex at 509 West 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 (Map). Juvenile criminal cases are heard at the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center at 2515 South Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78704 (Map).

The Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility is located at 1700 Guadalupe Street, Austin, Texas 78701 (Map).

The best point of contact for victims or witnesses in a pending criminal case is the assigned victim counselor or attorney. If you do not know which counselor or attorney is assigned to your case, please contact Victim Services at (512) 854-9449 or email TCDAVictimServices@traviscountytx.gov.

It is important for TCDA to have up-to-date contact information for crime victims and witnesses so we can keep you informed about how a case is progressing and make sure that you know about upcoming court dates where your appearance may be required. To update your contact information, please fill out this online form  (en Español).

A Victim Impact Statement is a document that victims and their families can use to record the impact a crime has had on them. The Victim Impact Statement will be used throughout the criminal justice system by the prosecutor, judge, probation office, and parole board to better understand the emotional, psychological, physical, and financial impact of the crime. Please email TCDAVictimServices@traviscountytx.gov if you would like our office to send you a Victim Impact Statement form to fill out. You can also submit your Victim Impact Statement to us using this online form (en Español).

Yes. TCDA can provide interpretation services for a victim or witness who is meeting with our office. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or speak a language other than English, please tell a victim counselor or any other TCDA staff member what language you speak. They will arrange for an interpreter to assist you.

You do not need an attorney as the victim of a crime in order to participate in the criminal justice system. In a criminal trial, the prosecutor represents the State of Texas and the crime victim is not considered a party to the case. However, the prosecutor must enforce the rights afforded to crime victims under the Crime Victim’s Bill of Rights.

A victim is only required to appear in court if the State of Texas needs them to testify at a hearing or at trial to prove its case. A victim’s attendance at other court dates is optional. In most cases, a regular docket setting is rather uneventful. Oftentimes, the prosecutor and the defense attorney have out-of-court discussions while they attempt to resolve the case and the court settings are more administrative than substantive. This does not mean that nothing is happening with the case, but rather that both sides are waiting on information from one another or attempting to gather additional facts for their position to ultimately help resolve the case. In cases involving lab results, such as cases that require DNA or drug testing, court settings will continue to be reset until the results are returned. This can often take several months. Feel free to contact your assigned victim counselor if you are curious whether it would be necessary or informative for you to attend an upcoming court setting.

The right of allocution allows victims and their families the opportunity to make a brief statement to a defendant in court about how a crime has impacted their life. This statement is made after the accused has been convicted. The accused is not allowed to question or comment on a victim’s allocution. Please contact your assigned victim counselor for more information about allocutions and to see if you are eligible to make one.

Crime victims can track whether a person accused of a crime is still being held in a county jail or Texas state prison through a system called Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE). You can register with VINE on their website or by calling (877) 894-8463.

The Crime Victim’s Compensation (CVC) Program provides financial assistance to crime victims and their immediate families. For more information about the CVC Program and to see if you are eligible, please visit the Office of the Attorney General’s website.

Property that was taken into evidence by law enforcement during a criminal investigation can often be returned to you but there are some exceptions. Please know that many times the property cannot be returned until after the case is resolved. You may contact your assigned victim counselor for more information.

Yes.  Learn more about the Harvest Trauma Recovery Center.