Intimate Partner Violence/Domestic Violence Initiative

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office began a new intake initiative in 2019 for misdemeanor Assault Bodily Injury Family Violence (ABI-FV) cases. The goal of the program was to enhance the value of the cases as they are filed by focusing on evidence collection and witness and victim contact. It is key to have almost immediate contact with the complainant or victim in the case.The program was developed in response to a backlog of misdemeanor ABI-FV cases and a lack of victim and witness participation as time passed. In recognition of the specific dynamics of Family Violence, the immediate interaction with the victim and evaluation of the strength of the evidence has been invaluable. The team, which includes felony Intimate Partner Violence Attorneys, misdemeanor attorneys and our Investigators, evaluated more than 2,000 cases. Approximately 18% of those cases were identified as felonies and enhanced or indicted. Of all cases accepted, approximately 75% of the victims were contacted within the first week of the case being filed. Several cases were returned for more investigation or rejected as a more in-depth evaluation showed the case was not appropriate for prosecution.