Reported by Patrick Van Haren
Margaret Moore, Travis County District Attorney presented to our Club on December 19th, 2017. Mrs. Moore took the opportunity to thank the audience for helping elect her to the position of DA, and to explain what her goals and accomplishments have been to date.
The Travis County DA’s office employees 220 people, of which 92 are lawyers and 19 are investigators. Mrs. Moore has focused on strengthening the relationship between the DA’s office and the various Law Enforcement agencies in Travis County. With 8 district courts in Travis, she has increased their focus and efficiency in handling special victim’s crimes including family violence, civil rights and child abuse, by appointing special prosecutors specializing in these cases.
Grand Jury observations have indicated an alarming increase in family violence cases, which are now #2 in volume after controlled substance abuse cases of less than 1 gram. Special grand jury sessions focusing on family violence are helping to reduce the backlog of cases.
Another area of focus has been on restructuring the handling of civil rights cases of officer involved shootings. Mrs. Moore’s goal has been to build community confidence in those cases being handled properly, especially getting the facts to all parties ASAP. Changes have been made in how her office responds to the cases (immediately), and increasing unfettered access from the first report and officer walk through.
She has also: #1 created a special investigations unit; #2 not all cases go to a grand jury; #3 created
special grand juries for officer involved cases only; #4 issued formal declination letters online
outlining the evidence supporting decisions not to prosecute; and #5 created a civil rights advisory
council.