Travis County District Attorney Victim Policies

These policies are designed to ensure that victims of crime know that engaging with our office will not mean they are retraumatized, ignored or accused of not being credible.

To accomplish this goal, we will:

• Prioritize Victims
• Justice
• We will prioritize the prosecution of violent crime, knowing that gender-based violence and crimes against marginalized communities have been historically under-investigated and under-prosecuted.
• We will honor victims by listening to their needs as they may change throughout the process.
• We will consider outcomes beyond convictions as success based on each individual victim’s concerns and desires.
• Prosecutors and Victim Counselors
• We will assign certain cases involving complex trauma to specially trained victim counselors to assist with providing support and resources for victims throughout the criminal case. For cases where no counselor is assigned and Court Team Leads determine a victim is experiencing trauma and would benefit from the assistance of a counselor, Leads may contact the Division Director over Victim Services to discuss having someone assigned.
• The DA’s office will be available to victims beginning when the case is still under investigation to lower confusion during the handoff from investigators to prosecutors. When that occurs, an ADA will be included to ensure that the case is one with sufficient probable cause for this office to prosecute.
• Prosecutors will be available to meet with victims whose cases are declined for prosecution in order to be accountable to victims.
• We will assign specially trained prosecutors to complex cases and cases that require specialized knowledge of unique areas of the law, including homicides, family violence, sexual assault, and child abuse.
• Whenever possible, we will have a single prosecutor and victim counselor from when charges are accepted by our office to the end of the case so that victims are not shuffled around and so that our office can develop a human connection to the case.

Victims will have the option to meet in-person with trauma-informed prosecutors and counselors.

These meetings will address the victim’s needs for justice, communication, and autonomy.

• Communication
• We will have a variety of communication plans victims can customize to fit their individual needs for clear, consistent communication.
• We will provide advance notice of official proceedings or decisions so that victims have enough time to provide input, prepare for upcoming court dates and consider how involved they want to be with their case.
• We will talk to victims about any potential plea or sentencing to ensure that they fully understand the sentence and what it means for their own safety. However, as prosecutors we will evaluate each case, taking into account harm to the victim as well as community safety as a whole, to determine appropriate sentencing.
• Whenever possible, victims will be notified of an offer before it is conveyed to the defense.
• Safety
• Our office will provide information to victims on how to apply for a Protective Order while the case is pending and will apply for a Protective Order upon conviction in adult and child sexual assault and trafficking cases if the victim wants one and there is not one already in place.
• In cases where the victim has relocated and/or wants their address kept confidential for safety reasons, our office will notify the defense attorney that there is a risk to victim safety and of their obligations under TX CCP 39.14 not to disclose the information to their client. Staff will be trained to administer and understand the Danger Assessment and will offer safety planning to all victims.
• We will continue to honor our firearm surrender policy.
• We will continue working with local stakeholders, including the Austin Office of Violence Prevention, to develop a county-wide firearm surrender protocol.
• Staff will be trained to administer and understand Lethality Assessments and will offer safety planning to all victims.
• We will include a referral for free legal representation to every victim to assist them with criminal justice advocacy and to ensure they have an advocate with whom conversations are protected and confidential. If a victim chooses to bring their advocate to meetings with our office, we will communicate with the advocate directly if the victim so requests.
• Victims’ Rights
• We will notify victims about the Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights to ensure they know about and receive the support they are legally entitled to.
• We will make sure all eligible victims know about the possibility of Crime Victims Compensation and pseudonyms and receive assistance accessing these rights.
• We will directly connect victims to community support including mental and behavioral health treatment, housing resources, legal assistance, and other support services.
• We will use initials for child victims in all indictments in child abuse cases.
• Ensure Access to Justice for all Victims
• All staff will receive trauma-informed training including training around the dynamics of interpersonal violence, the use of expert witnesses and the neurobiology of trauma.
• We know that people who are working class, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, or LGBTQIA+ face additional dangers from interacting with the legal system. We will train our staff to minimize harm. This will include bias training on race, gender, culture, and economic status as well as anti-racism training.
• We will use the pronoun that the victim has requested us to use when referring to the victim during conversations and in court.
• We will embrace accessibility for all, making sure that victims, regardless of their ability, have
  equal access to justice.
• Our office will maintain U-Visa policies that protect immigrant victims of crime who have been, are, or are likely to be helpful to law enforcement or prosecution, while recognizing the limiting impact of the dynamics of interpersonal violence on prosecution.
• Collaborate with Community Advocates and Experts
• Community Collaboration
• We will maintain active and meaningful membership in the Sexual Assault Response and Resource Team (SARRT), the Austin/Travis County Family Violence Task Force and the Domestic Violence High Risk Team and actively collaborate in these community-based, expert-led multi-disciplinary task forces. We will partner with community-based organizations to reinstitute the practice of educating each new Grand Jury on current and validated studies on the
  prevalence and dynamics of sexual and intimate partner violence and how it applies to the law.
• We will create a collaborative approach to victim advocacy so that specially trained counselors within the DA’s office, community organizations, and/or law enforcement agencies can be available for each victim based on their needs.
• We will collaborate with providers beyond the legal system.
• We will use multidisciplinary coordinated community response teams to make sure we are meeting victims’ needs beyond what the legal system can provide, as is currently done in jurisdictions across the nation.
• We will use experts and advocates outside of the DA’s office and law enforcement (for example forensic nurses specifically trained to recognize the signs of strangulation and sexual assault).
• We will use the power of the DA’s office to secure the funding and resources needed to build up our community organizations.
• Accountability
• Data
• Our office will work with community partners to identify data that we will make available to the public.
• Policies and Procedures
• Our office’s policies and procedures for cases will be written, straightforward, and available to the public. They will be reviewed annually to identify whether they are sensitive to the needs of trauma survivors.
• We will engage in community outreach around what actions constitute a criminal act, what resources are available for victims, and what to expect when reporting a criminal case.
• Transparency
• Both prosecutors and victim counselors will discuss the limits of confidentiality with victims.
• Case tracking
• We will advocate for prompt and proper testing of rape kits for all cases.
• Oversight
• Community critique will be welcomed and responded to publicly.
• We will maintain an Advisory Board composed of community members and survivors for oversight with the power to hold our office accountable to survivors.