Council Accomplishments

The District Attorney’s office has created a Domestic Violence Prosecution and Investigation Team, in partnership with the Sheriff’s office, increasing the number of cases that receive necessary follow-up investigations, and providing much-needed advocacy for victims in the court process.

Our county now has four strong batterer intervention programs that coordinate intakes and service provision.

The police departments in our county are now using a uniform domestic violence report form, which is o­ne of the factors that made “state-initiated” prosecution possible here. This form of prosecution, where the victim is not required to press charges or even testify in some cases, is much safer for victims and has increased the prosecution rate of these crimes from less than 20% to 85%.

Another factor that helped make “state-initiated” prosecution possible is the intensive police-training program the District Attorney and victim service agencies have provided.

Our county is o­ne of the few in the state with a self-help packet for civil stalking orders, developed by the Council’s Civil Justice committee, which makes it much easier for victims of this crime to get the protection they need without hiring a lawyer.