The Tarrant County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association,"TCCDLA", is a non profit corporation composed of attorneys who practice criminal defense law in Tarrant County, Texas.

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Tim Evans will be presented with the Blackstone Award at the Tarrant County Bar Association's Law Day Awards Dinner. The dinner will be held on May 3, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Fort Worth Club. Tickets are $60 and may be reserved through the TCBA's website.

Members, you can access the wireless system at the county courthouse. Wireless access to the Tarrant County Information System is available to members with CertVault for the specific purpose of giving defense attorneys immediate access to files in the Courthouse at the time of indigent appointment by a judge.

Setup Instructions

To renew your TCCDLA membership for 2012; to join TCCDLA for the first time; to renew your over 65 membership for 2012; to obtain ECFS access to criminal case files, either on a one year or six month period; to purchase additional Cert Vault Client licenses, which are the licenses to access ECFS; or to make donations to the Ward Casey Scholarship Fund, CLICK HERE. Then click on the Shopping Wizard.

PLEASE NOTE: For those members who have let their memberships lapse and would like to become members again with access to ECFS again, you must rejoin TCCDLA and pay an ECFS activation fee. To do this, click the link above, then click on the Shopping Wizard. It will guide you through the process of adding "2012 Membership" and "ECFS reactivation fee" automatically to your cart.

If you don't practice law regularly in Tarrant County, you can purchase the ability to view District Attorney files over the internet for $80.00, plus tax. This special procedure will give you access for exactly 180 days from the date of purchase. You do not incur maintenance fees in this process, however, there is no continuation of services. This is a one time deal. To purchase CLICK HERE.

Members, if you have any suggestions for speakers at luncheons or special requested subjects, or any matter you believe you would like TCCDLA to bring to the judges' attention, please email Scott Brown, 2011 President. All comments are kept confidential unless you indicate otherwise. Thank you.

The 2012 dates for monthly meetings are as follows:

January 12, 2012 -- Brad D. Levenson is the director of the Office of Capital Writs, the new state agency that handles all post-conviction habeas litigation in Texas.

February 9, 2012 -- Greg Shugart is the Tarrant County Courts Administrator

March 8, 2012 -- Vickye Key is the Services Coordinator for the Recovery Resource Council.

April 12, 2012 -- Judge Robb Catalano of CDC3 will update us on FAIP timelines.

May 10, 2012 -- Judge Brent Carr and Brad Spurlock will share information about the MHMR alert system and how it works; Linda Collins of MHMR and Steve Davis will discuss the RISE program and how to make referrals.

June 14, 2012 -- James Williams will speak about services offered by Mobile Medical Examiners in Arlington.

July 12, 2012 --

August 9, 2012 -- Attorney Fernando Dubove will address the "Immigration Consequences for Criminal Convictions".

September 13, 2012 --

October 11, 2012 --

November 8, 2012 --

All monthly meetings will begin promptly at 11:45 a.m. at Joe T. Garcia's fine mexican food on North Commerce Street in Fort Worth.

TCCDLA has placed a computer and printer on the 7th floor by the jury room of the 396th District Court and by the jury room of County Criminal Court Number Five. Additionally, the District Clerk is also installing computers and printers in the clerk's offices on a trial basis, beginning on the 5th floor. These computers will allow you to access the ECFS System as well as print off any documents you may need.TCCDLA has given members with a token 250 free printer credits. After that you can simply purchase printer credits from the TCCDLA online store. Below are the procedures for using the TCCDLA computer:

1) Plug in your token into the USB cable.(NOTE: The USB ports on the computer are non-functional, you must use the cable).

2) The system will ask you for your Passphrase (this is the last four digits of your bar number).

3) The system will then ask you for your UserID and Password.This is your access password to this computer and is assigned to you by Storm s Edge Technologies. Your User ID is your email address and your assigned computer password has been emailed to you. If you don't know your password you need to call Storm's Edge at 817 284 0775. If you don't know your email you don't need to be trying to do this.

4) Double Click on the ECFS System icon on the desktop and use the ECFS System as you would in your office or on your own computer.

5) To print anything, simply follow the same procedure you would on your own computer (Click the printer Icon, choose File->Print, Hit Alt+R, etc )

6) To logoff the computer, simply remove your token and the system will automatically log you off.

As always, if you have any questions, please call Storm s Edge Technologies at 817.284.0775

Members, you may join the TCCDLA listserve, a chat line for members of TCCDLA with comments about current issues. To join contact Stephanie K. Patten.

This message applies to the recertification notice for those attorneys who are on the court appointment lists, and is posted pursuant to the judges handling criminal cases in Tarrant County. "In view of the large number of attorneys who recently failed to submit their recertification information on time, the Office of Attorney Appointments will institute/reinstitute email notifications to attorneys who are on the verge of becoming ineligible accept indigent appointments due to failure to submit required eligibility documentation. It is the criminal judge's desire to have an adequate and qualified pool of attorneys available to represent indigent defendants. However, it remains the responsibility of the individual attorney to insure he/she remains in compliance.

Post Date 20 August 2008. Bill Ray- President TCCDLA

The Tarrant County District Attorney has implemented a new, revised, and what they call a more efficient policy on obtaining videos in DWI cases. It is found by clicking here. The form for attorneys in Tarrant County must be picked up in person at the DWI Library in the Justice Center. You can view this form here. If you are an out of county attorney, you don't have to go to the Justice Center. Rather, you can fax the "Out of County Form" to 817-884-2499. This form can be found here.

Please note: If you have not been emailed that your DWI tape or disc is ready to be picked up, it is not ready. Please do not stop by to check if your DWI tape or disc is ready if you have not been emailed that it is ready. This will help reduce the time spent by the Library staff unnecessarily checking on the status of attorney requests, instead of spending it actually processing the requests.

Renew your TCCDLA Membership and ecfs access for 2012 by clicking here. Then click the Shopping Wizard. The Wizard will allow you to renew your membership and prompts you to add everything you need to access ecfs for 2012. If you renew by December 31, 2011, your dues will be discounted to $125. If you renew after December 31, 2011, your dues will be $150. You may also purchase a meal pack for 2012. A meal pack includes all 11 lunches for 2012 for only $100.

FOR 65 AND OVER RENEWING MEMBERS: You must still renew your membership online every year. To do this, click here. Then click the Shopping Wizard and follow the instructions. You will not be charged, but you must go through the renewal process.

Before you log on to renew memberships or pay non-member fees, please note the following mistakes that prevent you from doing this:

1. You must know your email address and password. If you do not know your password, look below this button to see how to retrieve it. You will need to know your state bar number.

2. When you fill out the form, all blanks must be filled out. A common mistake is to not fill in the year you were licensed. There is an "Edit Above Information" link in orange letters near your electronic signature field that allows you to do this.

3. Your credit card company will not authorize a charge if the billing address is not correct.

4. The member, not TCCDLA, makes changes to the membership profile. For information on changing your personal information, log on to this website, click on the link 'Membership' to the upper left. Then click on 'How to Change Your Personal Information' and follow the instructions.

5. If you are still having problems, call Storm's Edge Technologies at 817 284 0775 or email Jen@stormsedge.com.
Thank you

First Time 65 and Over Members, if you turn 65 during any calendar year, you are eligible for free dues and luncheon meals for life from TCCDLA, beginning in 2008. You also do not have to RSVP to any meeting. To get this benefit, email a copy of your driver's license to President@tccdla.com. Do not buy a meal pack or buy a membership. It will be done for you automatically.

RENEWING 65 and OVER MEMBERS: You must still renew your membership online every year. To do this, click here. Then click the Shopping Wizard and follow the instructions. You will not be charged, but you must go through the renewal process.

TCCDLA, in the memory of Bob Ford, has made it a priority and set up this gift giving process to enable those less privileged to experience the joys of cycling. [more...]

Donate Now!

To change/edit your account information you will need to login to the TCCDLA website and then click on your name in the Membership Directory.

To login to the website use the link on the left and then provide your the same email and password used for CertVault.

To access the Membership Directory use the link provided in the home page article titled "WELCOME TO THE TCCDLA WEBSITE"

To recover your password to the TCCDLA Website, TCCDLA Online Store, or CertVault use the link below:

Recover My Password

This information is posted at the request of the judge, coordinator, or probation officer in that court. For further information, please contact that person.

County Criinal Court Number Five

Tarrant County Criminal Court 5 is now offering a victim advocate in the court room on Monday and Wednesday mornings.  The purpose of this addition is to provide the alleged victim with immediate services, alternative information and possible consent agreement for the Diversion Program.  Please advise all of the members of the Defense Bar so they can make plans to utlilizes the advocates when their client is set for docket.  Please call me if you have any questions.Thank you

Debra Bezner
Tarrant County Criminal Court #5 Program Coordinator
817-884-2647 dlbezner@tarrantcounty.com

To view the dockets of the nine felony and ten misdemeanor courts, click here.

Statistics of the Tarrant County Criminal District Courts. View

To see if a person is in the Fort Worth Police holding facility at 350 W. Belknap St., call 817-392-4056.

Locate a person confined in the Tarrant County Jail.
Locate a person confined in the Arlington City Jail.
Locate a person confined in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDC).
Locate a person confined in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Find a person in a jail anywhere in the United States.

To check for warrants in the City of Fort Worth, Texas, click HERE.

Check on the status of payments from the Tarrant County Auditor: Check Payments

The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office has formulated new guidelines to follow if your client is interested in working as a snitch. These guidelines are contained in a letter found here.

Members may access the history of Tarrant County individual juror's prior service. To do so, please log in to the members only section, then click on Documents/Articles on the left. Scroll down to the bottom to the link entitled Prior Jury Service.

To view many forms on this website, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. It is a free download. Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

You can make a tax deductible contribution to the Ward Casey Scholarship Fund which provides legal scholarships to members, or you can help members of our organization in time of critical financial need. Make a donation today!

The MABA is holding its annual golf tournament on Friday, April 20, 2012 at Squaw Creek Golf Course.

TCCDLA members are invited to participate.

Click on this link for details.