By David Holmes
TDCAA Board President & County Attorney in Hill County
My first installment of The President’s Column is like the late, great Blackie Sherrod’s[1] Scattershooting column. My hope is that future efforts will be much more focused and content-rich.
I will pick up where last year’s President, Erleigh Wiley, left off in the most recent issue of The Texas Prosecutor by wishing now-retired Executive Director Rob Kepple and our new Executive Director Shannon Edmonds both a hearty congratulations. I am excited for both of them as they begin their new chapters. I also want our members to know how excited I am to serve as President of TDCAA in 2025. Being involved in TDCAA is one of the best things I have done professionally. I encourage all prosecutors to get involved in our great organization. The more you get involved, the more you will benefit from it.
I am probably not alone in being thankful that the presidential election is over. The TV ads, texts, and social media posts have become overwhelming and exhausting in today’s elections. Criminal justice was a central issue in this last election cycle. One of my concerns in politicizing criminal justice is that it detracts from why most of us work in prosecution: to serve victims. The focus on crime victims gets lost in the midst of the political hyperbole and rhetoric.
While our candidates make themes out of certain crimes, such as human trafficking and illegal entry, service to victims of violent crimes is suffering. Statistics show that the processing time of applications for Crime Victims’ Compensation has ballooned. As most of you are aware, when a victim of abuse finally decides to escape her abuser, time is of the essence in getting her the resources to establish a new residence, employment, etc. When services lag, the chances of victims returning to their abusers increases exponentially.
Speaking of increasing focus on the victims we serve, I’d like to welcome Kristin Burns to TDCAA in the new position of Domestic Violence Resource Prosecutor. I am excited to see what Kristin does with this much-needed position. Also, thank you to the Texas District and County Attorneys Foundation for helping to fund this position to better train and serve Texas prosecutors who prosecute domestic violence cases.
As we move into a new legislative session in Austin, I urge you to talk with your local state representatives and senators and participate in the legislative process to the degree your busy schedules allow. As you engage with them, encourage your reps to keep the victims of crime at the forefront of crafting criminal justice legislation.
There are several great resources available to you as a member of TDCAA of which you should be aware. The Legislative Update is emailed weekly during the session and periodically when not in session. I am sure that Shannon Edmonds and Hector Valle (our new Director of Government Relations) will be as great as ever keeping us up to date during the 89th Legislative Session. (Welcome, Hector!) The weekly Case Summaries Update will keep you informed regarding recent appellate rulings that affect our jobs as prosecutors. It also includes notable requests for Attorney General opinions. Our newest email feature is the TDCAA Round-Up, which is a collection of articles relevant to our profession—an outstanding addition. (These three emails require you to sign up to receive them, so it takes a few minutes of effort, but it is time well-spent.) Finally, TDCAA has a Bill Tracker on its legislative webpage that is a great resource for tracking bills pending in the legislature.
One of those “flavor of the session” subjects in the upcoming 89th is Organized Retail Theft. I will be focusing more on property crimes in future editions of The Texas Prosecutor. Victims of property crimes are just that—victims—and whether it be an individual or a business, they are often overlooked. So there is more to come on that.
I wish you all a happy New Year. I hope 2025 is good to each and every one of you. Please do not hesitate to call on any of your prosecutor colleagues or our incredible TDCAA staff to assist in your efforts seeking justice in the new year.
[1] For those unfamiliar, Blackie Sherrod was a beloved sportswriter and newspaper columnist in Dallas for more than six decades.