The Texas District & County Attorneys Association (TDCAA) held its annual Criminal & Civil Law Conference Sept. 21-24 in Galveston. The event attracted more than 800 attendees who were eager to catch up with fellow prosecutors, victim assistance coordinators and investigators after much time apart because of the pandemic. Attendees received 12 hours of continuing legal education and were able to sit in on a variety of presentations and forums ranging from a thorough legislative update by Shannon Edmonds, TDCAA's director of governmental relations, to a rural prosecutor forum led by District Attorney Mike Fouts of the 39th Judicial District and Swisher County District Attorney Mike Criswell.
On Sept. 23, registrants could choose from six tracks: core trial skills, civil law, defenses, intoxication manslaughter (and other one-offs), a special track for investigators, and a special track for key personnel and victim assistance coordinators.
The conference kicked off by honoring the following 2021 award recipients:
- State Bar Criminal Justice Section Prosecutor of the Year: Rockwall County Criminal District Attorney Kenda Culpepper.
- Lone Star Prosecutor Award: Kleberg and Kenedy Counties Assistant District Attorney Retha Cable and Jefferson County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Mike Laird.
- Oscar Sherrell Award: Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Jerry Varney.
- C. Chris Marshall Award: Fort Bend County Assistant District Attorney Sunni Mitchell.
- Gerald Summerford Civil Practitioner of the Year: Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Russell Roden.
TDCAA's annual elected prosecutor conference will be held in December, during which the association will announce and install new members to the board.
For anyone interested in TDCAA's Legislative Update, an online version is available through Dec. 31. You can register for that training here.
For more information about this article, please contact Amy Befeld.