Association of Prosecuting Attorneys

While our office is closed for the holiday today and tomorrow, we would like to kick off a series as we approach the end of our 15th Anniversary at APA.?We are so grateful for all of our supporters, members, and staff.?For the next 5 days, leading up to Giving Tuesday, we will be highlighting and sharing stories.?Be sure to follow us as we will be giving away free registrations for our 2025 DV and Animal Abuse Conferences, and a year of free membership too! Our first story is from Gallatin County Montana’s County Attorney, Audrey Cromwell.?She reached out to APA when she discovered 550 unprosecuted felonies in her case backlogs, including 113 serious sexual assaults dating back over 15 years.?Her office was 40% understaffed and there was a caseload explosion due to significant growth in the county.?APA’s Case Backlog Team provided support and resources as she, the newly appointed County Attorney, took measures to reorganize her staff, create policies, and ultimately partnered with local Universities to support the increase of caseloads.?She also started a pre-trial diversion program and implemented various processes to modernize the practices and create ease through electronic case management and filing within the office and court system.?Thank you, Audrey, for sharing your story! Donate here: https://lnkd.in/eHxkY4zV

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! #APAInc #prosecutors

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, beginning #16DaysOfActivism against gender-based violence. OVW stands in solidarity with survivors, advocates, and leaders, around the world as we all work to end #GenderBasedViolence #NoExcuse

?? On December 9th CRHLP will be hosting a timely webinar discussion that brings together voices of prosecutor associations, ob-gyn associations, and advocates to discuss widespread opposition to pregnancy criminalization across different professions. ?? CRHLP Staff Attorney Cathren Cohen will moderate a panel discussion with Pregnancy Justice’s Michele Ko, MPH, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Penn State University?and Former ACOG Darney-Landy Fellow Michael A. Belmonte, MD, and Project Director of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Addressing Disparities to Reproductive Health Project Beth Merachnik. ? Register today at this link for virtual attendance:?https://lnkd.in/gscBNsVf

The month of November was filled with data collection. Both of these resources are incredibly valuable and we hope that the highlights this month have provided potential ideas for your offices/agencies: Measures for Justice - The goal of Commons is to provide criminal justice data at the local level, which is often not readily available. To achieve transparency and lasting reform, Measures for Justice has developed a model to co-create joint space for making criminal justice data transparent and shared goals public. Prosecutorial Performance Indicators - Prosecutorial Performance Indicators (PPI): APA partners with Florida International University and Loyola University Chicago to implement Prosecutorial Performance Indicators (PPIs) and develop dashboards in prosecutors’ offices nationwide. PPIs are a suite of modern indicators for prosecutors committed to measuring effectiveness, efficiency and fairness. As we close out November, we would like to highlight one of our webinars, "Using Data for Policy Changes": https://lnkd.in/ejeQ-Amw We want to hear from you: Have you used data transparency resources in your office? How has it benefited your office or community? Please email our Program Coordinator, April Doherty ([email protected]) with your thoughts and comments.

IN THE NEWS: "New Program Offers Resources Instead of Prosecution for ‘Survivor-Defendants’ in Nashville" https://lnkd.in/eb5UsPWh Office of the District Attorney General/Nashville-Davidson County and YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee have teamed up and are one of APA's pilot sites!

The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) released "Prosecutors in State Courts, 2020" last week which highlighted employee demographics and office operations across the country for State Courts. According to the report, "State court prosecutors are afforded broad discretion in determining who is charged with an offense and if a case goes to trial. Findings show that state prosecutor offices charged 78% of all felony matters reviewed in 2020, and 67% of all felony matters concluded by state prosecutor offices were adjudicated following a plea bargain." This comprehensive report breaks down attorneys and other staff within these offices showing a continual increase in staff since 1992. Read the entire report here: https://lnkd.in/gnTvVyQs

Today—PART 2! There’s still time to register!

Along with the work done to provide prosecutors’ offices with varying levels of data visualization and technical support, APA and Measures for Justice?have worked closely with the National Prosecutor Dashboard Advisory Group made up of prosecutors, researchers, national organizations, and foundations inhabiting the public prosecutorial data platform space. “National Prosecutorial Dashboards: Lessons Learned, Themes and Categories for Consideration,” was produced through this collaboration, a comprehensive guide to assist prosecutors with implementing public-facing data visualizations. This document contains lessons learned, themes and categories for consideration, and links to external resources, including existing public-facing dashboards. https://lnkd.in/epSAeYPq

JOIN US TODAY, 11/18 at 3PM EST -- REGISTER HERE: https://lnkd.in/exngrJwx