January-February 2016

Texas Prosecutors Society reception

Rob Kepple

TDCAA Executive Director in Austin

On December 2, the Texas Prosecutors Society gathered to honor its Class of 2015. The Foundation hosted a reception at the Elected Prosecutor Conference (held this year at the gorgeous La Cantera Resort in San Antonio and sponsored by the National Insurance Crime Bureau [NICB]), where all 131 members of the Society were invited.
    Welcome to these new members of the Society, inducted in 2015:

Gerald Carruth
Ray Echevarria
Bill Hawkins
Kyson Johnson
Adrienne McFarland
Don Stricklin
Bill Wirskye

These folks were invited to be a part of this Society because of their long service and continued support of our profession, and we are honored that they chose to join us.
    As you may know, the Texas Prosecutors Society is a group of prosecutors, former prosecutors, and friends of the profession organized around the common goal of ensuring support for our professional development well into the future by way of an endowment. Since the Professional Prosecutors Act passed in 1979, we have seen Texas prosecutors continue to develop into some of the most dedicated, experienced, and knowledgeable prosecutors in the country.
    And that is not by accident—Texas prosecutors have continued to organize through TDCAA, and now TDCAF, to bring the best training and resources to every member of a prosecutor’s office. And in this era of ever-shrinking financial support for anything governmental, we know that an ever-growing endowment promises to keep Texas prosecutors among the elite. So thanks to all of the members of the Texas Prosecutors Society, and welcome to the class of 2015!

Thanks to two other sponsors
LGS, a browser-based case management solution for county governments, and Software Unlimited, which provides criminal, civil, restitution, paperless office, and mobile solutions for district and county prosecutor offices, both sponsored our Elected Prosecutor Conference in San Antonio. Thanks to both of them for their support!

Two big checks
During the Elected Conference in December, Ross Kurtz (DA in Wharton County) and Bobby Bland (DA in Ector County) presented the Foundation with surplus asset forfeiture funds. These donations, authorized by the Code of Criminal Procedure for training, are vital for the ongoing work of our Victim Services Director and the Advanced Advocacy Courses. Thanks to Ross and Bobby for this important support!