Assistant to the D.A.

Trust me, working for an elected official isn't all glitz and glamour. There was no inaugural ball, no spectacular trips to far off places, and no free tickets to big sporting events. Oh, I forgot, that's Washington, D.C. and I'm in Texas. There is, however, lots of hard work, governmental regulations to deal with, and much lower pay than what is available out in the ''real world.'' But guess what, it's rewarding.

When I became a legal assistant seven years ago I never would have thought that I would one day be a public servant. My goal was to enter the world of big-time civil law. I would have a small but tastefully decorated office, really nice clothes so I could power dress for trial days, and of course work for a wonderfully brilliant attorney who would be my mentor for life. Well, one out of three isn't bad. I am fortunate enough to work for an extremely intelligent, honest, and hard working District Attorney.

I stumbled upon the District Attorney's office by chance-I just happened to be working for the man when he was elected. I figured it sounded like fun, why not ride the coattails as far as they would take me? So far, they have taken me into the exciting realm of criminal law. Why are shows like Law and Order, NYPD Blue, Homicide, and Murder One so popular? Everyone likes a juicy homicide; so do I and unfortunately there are plenty to go around.

For those who might not know exactly what a District Attorney's office does, let me fill you in. Other than the obvious task of prosecuting those individuals charged with a crime committed within our jurisdiction, this office also represents the Texas Department of Human Services-Child Protective Services Division in the emergency removal and parental termination of abused children. We collect, where the law allows, hot checks for merchants and individuals, as well as representing our County Commissioner's Court and other elected county officials and departments in civil matters.

It just so happened that in 1991 when this administration took office, juvenile crime was on the upswing. My boss felt that changes needed to be made in the area of juvenile law and that became his mission. And, like any loyal legal assistant, his cause became my cause. Since that time I have been involved in the District Attorney's Commission on Juvenile Justice which made an in-depth study of our local juvenile justice system and published and presented its recommendations to the District Attorney in 1992. During that time I also worked extensively in the County's Juvenile Workgroup, chaired by one of our County Commissioners, and designed to help make those recommended changes become a reality.

One of those changes called for early intervention by the justice system when a first time, non-violent juvenile offender enters the system. I was honored to work with another legal assistant in our office in the creation of a Juvenile Diversion Program. This program deals one-on-one with children who would previously have been lost in the system. With too few juvenile courts struggling to keep up with serious violent crimes, there just wasn't any court time for kids who got caught for the first time committing crimes like shoplifting, smoking pot or getting in a fight at school. The goal of the Diversion Program is to bring these kids in, give them a realistic view of what their lives will be like if they continue to break the law, and then set them up with a heavy dose of community service, crime-specific courses and programs and payment of monetary restitution, if applicable. In return for the child's participation in these programs, we do not prosecute them for the crime of which they have been accused. If they don't re-offend, their records are cleared. The program gives the child a second chance, but if they mess up they find themselves in front of the judge. As you might guess, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But if we can divert one child from a life of crime, that's one life saved and that makes it worthwhile.

During the last legislative session I was privileged to work with my boss on changes to our juvenile laws which have toughened up on juvenile offenders. The legislature passed a bill that expanded determinate sentencing, created a permissive system of ''progressive sanctions,'' created a state-wide registry of juvenile offenders, and lowered the age at which a juvenile can be ordered to stand trial as an adult from fifteen to fourteen.

Determinate sentencing is a type of punishment where a child may be given a specific sentence for violent crimes. The number of offenses eligible for prosecution under determinate sentencing has expanded from six to twenty-two. Juveniles meeting certain criteria may be tried in adult court under the determinate sentence law. In the case of murder and other first degree felonies, the maximum sentence is 40 years. The child is sent to the Texas Youth Commission (TYC, the juvenile ''prison'') until his/her 18th birthday. Under previous law, the child had a hearing before the judge who either released the juvenile, kept him/her in TYC until age 21, or transferred him/her to the adult prison to serve the remainder of the sentence. Since the inception of the new law, approximately 38% of the juveniles were ordered to complete the rest of their sentences in adult prison. Under the new law, the hearing at age eighteen has been eliminated and the child is required to serve a minimum sentence at TYC. The decision to parole a child is made exclusively by TYC. If the child is released from TYC after he/she becomes nineteen, parole is supervised by the adult parole system, and any revocation of parole results in the child going straight to adult prison.

In 1993 in the state of Texas, only 15% of the over 118,000 cases involving juveniles went to court. Forty-eight percent of the juveniles were ''counseled and released.'' This means they were arrested and let go after receiving a warning from a probation officer. The new law introduces the concept of progressive sanctions in an attempt to force more children ''deeper'' into the system. The sanctions would require probation officers to supervise more children instead of merely releasing them with a lecture. Except under special circumstances, the court shall require the child to perform community service and the parents may be ordered to perform community service with their child. Gang investigators are not allowed to take photographs of known gang members for later identification purposes, even if the gang member gives his/her permission.

You shouldn't think that my life revolves around juvenile crime. I spend a good part of my day working on statistical record keeping and reporting for the office. Providing proof to Commissioner's Court that this is a hard working office is important at budget time (we dispose of nearly 100,000 cases a year). A couple of years ago, we implemented a new system in our county for the filing of criminal arrest cases. It is important to keep a close watch on the statistics to make sure that the system is working as planned. I am currently involved in the county's Gang Task Force and the development of a county-wide computer network to track gang members. This system is turning out to be an exceptional tool for law enforcement and is helping to curb the rising tide of gang violence in our community.

It's true that I don't have a tastefully decorated office, I don't draft many pleadings and I don't spend much time in court, but my job is exciting and full of opportunities. Every day holds new challenges. On those days when I've spent too much time dealing with unhappy victins, uncooperative witnesses or angry citizens, I just tell myself, ''I'm doing a job that needs to be done; I'm a public servant.''

TEXAS PARALEGAL JOURNAL
Summer 1996
©1996 Legal Assistants Division, State Bar of Texas

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