FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (Thursday, March 29, 2012)

[Dallas County officially surpasses 90% milestone for DPS adult arrest reporting, meeting critical grant requirement]
DPS pointing to Dallas County as the model for increasing the compliance reporting…

[Dallas, TX] – [HB 2370, passed in the 2009 legislative session, required the establishment of a Local Data Advisory Board (LDAB) by the Commissioners Court of any County with a reporting completion rate below 90% for juvenile and adult dispositions. The Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division (CJD), has since announced that no grants for anyone awarded through that office will be eligible for funding if the County’s reporting percentage on adult dispositions for 2006 to 2010 do not average 90% by August 1st, 2012. Dallas County progress has been tracked on a monthly basis.  We are proud to announce Dallas County is now compliant with the CJD grant requirement. We would like to further emphasize that we at Dallas County have set the bar even higher; our hope is to reach 93% by August of this year!]

When the Dallas County LDAB was established, adult reporting for 2006 was at 81%. To reach our goal of 90% Dallas County used an integrated approach between our I.T Department and other law enforcement agencies within the County:

• IT Services deployed resources to review the existing automated reporting routines and to better filter open arrest data to determine what was needed to correct information and who is responsible for that information
• Juvenile Services and Criminal Justice staff have worked closely with our TDPS technical assistance representative to identify open cases and begin working to report on those cases
• An initial meeting was held with law enforcement agencies in Dallas County to present the status and develop a system for researching and resolving open arrests. Dallas County law enforcement agencies began immediately reviewing open arrests records and making the needed corrections.

Commissioner Elba Garcia, as Chair of the Criminal Justice Advisory Board, has been integral to this success story through her leadership and says, "The critical nature of this accomplishment can never be over stated because it affects grant funding across many departments and this court.  This is a great example of the incredible work that is done every day by Dallas County employees." 

Upon the announcement of the news yesterday there were many people deserving of praise for their work in saving critical programs across the board. Commissioners praised all who made this milestone possible.  In making the announcement to the County Ron Stretcher, director of the Dallas County Criminal Justice Committee, stated:  “I am so proud of the hard work and team effort that has included a partnership with Jill Reese, Craig Morrissey, Vickie Buchanan, County & District Clerk and their staff, the District Attorney and his staff, John Morse, DPS area representative, and local Law Enforcement Agencies.  This project was so critical as grant funding to all agencies in Dallas County was at risk.  We also must ensure that criminal history information is timely and accurate.”

As Chairman of the Dallas County Information Technology Executive Governance Committee, Commissioner Cantrell said, “I am proud of the leadership and ownership that our IT Department took on this project in addition to the unwavering perseverance of Ron Stretcher to reach the goals mandated by the Legislature.  Dallas County was in jeopardy of losing over $600,000 in grant funding had it not been for the tenacious attitudes by everyone involved.”

County Judge Clay Jenkins added, “This illustrates the importance of strengthening our information technology capabilities.  Our IT Department and law enforcement agencies are to be commended for their management of this effort to ensure that funding for grants was not compromised.” 

MEDIA CONTACTS: 

Judge Clay Jenkins (Avail. for on-cams/interviews tomorrow) 214.653.7949 Clay.jenkins@dallascounty.org	Commissioner Elba Garcia 214.653.6670 Elba.garcia@dallascounty.org
Ron Stretcher, Director, Dallas County Criminal Justice Committee 469.385.1720 Ron.stretcher@dallascounty.org	Commissioner Mike Cantrell 215-589-7060 Mike.cantrell@dallascounty.org
	Maria Arita, PIO 214.653.7150 Maria.arita@dallascounty.org