By Jalayne Robinson, LMSW
TDCAA Victim Services Director
In the very near future, Family Violence Protective Orders (POs) filed on or after October 15, 2020, in all 254 Texas counties will be accessible via a website administered by the Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA). Members of the criminal justice community, including all elected prosecutors, will soon be contacted by the OCA with information to gain access to the Texas Protective Order Registry portal. Actual images of both PO applications and orders filed in any county in Texas will be available.
This registry is the result of SB 325, which was passed in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its implementation was delayed (it was supposed to start June 1, 2020), and an extended start date of October 15 was granted by the Texas Supreme Court.
The bill is now codified in Chapter 72, Subchapter F of the Texas Government Code (§§72.151–72.158.) This legislation is also known as Monica’s Law in honor of victim Monica Deming of Odessa, who was murdered by an abusive ex-boyfriend in 2015. The ex-boyfriend had been subject to two prior protective orders, which Monica didn’t know had been issued.
The registry contains protective orders issued by Texas courts relating to domestic violence, stalking, human trafficking, dating violence, and abuse. Restricted users, such as the attorney general, a district attorney, a criminal district attorney, a county attorney, a municipal attorney, or a peace officer, will be provided portal access to view information and images of each PO application filed and protective orders issued, including vacated or expired ones. For security purposes, elected prosecutors will be given the authority to designate users within their offices. Users can then search for and receive a copy of a filed application for a protective order or issued protective order through the registry’s website.
Since September 1, the OCA has trained over 1,200 district, county, municipal, and justice court users. Clerks’ training and actual PO entries are considered the first phase of the registry’s implementation, and clerks are reportedly steadily entering protective order applications and final orders. To date, over 7,000 records have been entered into the registry, which includes applications and issued orders. It is anticipated that the website and training for prosecution personnel and law enforcement will be available very early in 2021. Elected prosecutors, please be on the lookout for a Texas Protective Order Registry announcement email from the OCA.
Public access to the registry, which is free of charge and requires no log-in, protects victim privacy but shares court information, cause numbers, and the person whom the order is against by searching the respondent’s name, birth year, and county of issuance. By statute, public access occurs only with the express written consent of the petitioner in final protective orders and does not include temporary ex parte POs or magistrates orders for protection. Further, no images of any applications or orders are available to the public through the registry. The OCA does not provide access to either confidential or sealed case information.
Having worked with crime victims and applicants for protective orders in a prosecutor’s office for many, many years, I can see where this PO registry will be so very helpful. I can remember numerous victims who had fled their perpetrators from another county, coming to our office for protection, and for whatever reason they did not have a copy of their protective order from the other county but they knew that they had one in force. I can remember some POs were not entered into TCIC/NCIC for whatever reason, and our DA investigator could not find an entry of the PO by doing a criminal history check. It was sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack. Our office would call other district or county clerks requesting official copies of POs from other counties. Although filed POs are a matter of public record, sometimes it would take actually going to the county courthouse where the PO was issued to get a copy. I so wish this registry could have been up and running back then!
In addition to providing vital information to the courts for making sentencing and release decisions, the registry will allow peace officers to view the image of the full, signed order when determining probable cause to arrest for violations. Further, the information is required to be entered within 24 hours of issuance, whereas entry into TCIC can take up to four business days.
The Protective Order Registry (geared toward court users) can be found at www.txcourts.gov/judicial-data/protective-order-registry. By early 2021, a separate website will be available to provide access to prosecution and law enforcement personnel. OCA will be providing the information for this website to TDCAA members as it becomes available.
KP-VAC Conference
A Zoom conference was held for key personnel and victim assistance coordinators (VACs) from across Texas on November 12. This was TDCAA’s very first KP-VAC Conference via Zoom. More than 250 members were registered and participated. Many, many thanks to our very informative speakers and forum facilitators! We appreciate your time and valuable assistance for TDCAA members.
Mark your calendar for next year’s 2021 Key Personnel & Victim Assistance Coordinator Conference to be held November 10-12, 2021, in Kerrville at the Inn of the Hills Conference Center.
Awards and recognition
At the KP–VAC Conference, we normally present awards, but this year was different. We mailed awards to these highly deserving recipients and honored them during the online conference with accolades. Here are the awards from this year’s conference:
PVAC. Sara Bill, the Director of Victim Services in the Williamson County Attorney’s Office, received Professional Victim Assistance Coordinator (PVAC) recognition in 2020. Sara has 20 years’ experience working in prosecutor offices and is highly regarded by Williamson County Attorney Dee Hobbs. “Sara has extensive knowledge of victims’ rights, which has prepared her to educate and mentor the victim advocates she supervises. Sara goes above and beyond for each victim she serves, not stopping until all questions have been answered and action plans in place. I could not be prouder of Sara!”
Oscar Sherrell Award. Adina Morris, VAC for the Palo Pinto County District Attorney’s Office, was honored with the Oscar Sherrell Award, which honors service to TDCAA. It recognizes those enthusiastic folks who excel in TDCAA work and may recognize a specific activity that has benefited or improved TDCAA or may recognize a body of work that has improved the service TDCAA provides to the profession.
Adina has worked in the Palo Pinto DA’s office since 2010. She served on TDCAA’s Key Personnel–Victim Services Board from 2015–2018 and in 2017 served as the Chair. Adina was always a willing participant and brought great training ideas to the table during her tenure on the Board. She attended almost every training session, introduced guest speakers, and always offered help in other areas. Even after she ended her term as the chairperson, she gave freely of her time and talent to TDCAA.
Suzanne McDaniel Award. Katie Etringer Quinney, a VAC who has worked for the 81st Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Floresville for four years, has been honored with TDCAA’s Suzanne McDaniel Award for her work on behalf of crime victims. The award is given each year to a person who has demonstrated impeccable service to TDCAA, victim services, and prosecution.
Katie has shown a tremendous dedication to TDCAA and currently serves on the Key Personnel-Victim Services Board as the South Central Area (Regions 4 & 8) Representative. She has devoted her time to speak at several conferences on her experience as a VAC during the Sutherland Springs shooting, which occurred in her jurisdiction. Katie possesses the quality of willingness to serve and has such a kind spirit. She is always eager and able to assist in any way needed.
Katie exemplifies the qualities that were so evident in Suzanne McDaniel herself: advocacy, empathy, and a constant recognition of the rights of crime victims.
PVAC recognition
This is a voluntary program for Texas prosecutor offices designed to recognize professionalism in prosecutor-based victim assistance and acknowledge a minimum standard of training in the field. Applicants must provide victim assistance through a prosecutor’s office and be or become a member of the Texas District & County Attorneys Association (key personnel category).
For information on qualifications and how to apply, please see https://www.tdcaa.com/wp-content/uploads/Victim_Services/Duties_Victims/Checklist-of-Prosecutor-Office-Duties-to-Victims.pdf.
National Crime Victims’ Rights Week
Each April, communities throughout the country observe National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) by hosting events promoting victims’ rights and honoring crime victims and those who advocate on their behalf. In 2021, NCVRW will be observed April 18-24 with a theme of “Support Victims. Build Trust. Engage Communities.”
Check out the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) website at https://ovc.ojp.gov/program/national-crime-victims-rights-week/overview for additional information. Sign up for the NCVRW subscription list at https://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw/subscribe.
If your community hosts an event, we would like to publish photos and information about it in an upcoming issue of The Texas Prosecutor journal. Please email me at Jalayne.Robinson@tdcaa .com with information and photos of your event.
Victim services consultations by Zoom
As TDCAA’s victim services director, my primary responsibility is to assist elected prosecutors, VACs, and other prosecutor office staff in providing services for crime victims in their jurisdictions. I am available to provide training and technical assistance to you by phone, email, or Zoom. The services are free of charge. If you would like to schedule a Zoom victim services videoconference, please email me at Jalayne [email protected]. Let me know how I may be of assistance to you and your office!