TERMS &
CONDITIONS FOR USE OF THE POLK COUNTY CRIMINAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CASE SEARCH (DACS) BY DEFENSE COUNSEL
The Polk County Criminal District Attorney’s Office has permitted
electronic access to criminal discovery by defense attorneys as a part of our
current open file policy. All criminal
cases will be electronically accessed through a web access point (DACS) on the
Criminal District Attorney tab of the
The attorney of record on a criminal case will have electronic access
to the state’s file (excluding any prosecuting attorney work product) through
the DACS. This open file policy is
offered strictly as a courtesy to defense counsel in order to satisfy the
state’s duty to disclose any exculpatory or mitigating evidence and in
anticipation of the execution of a discovery agreement by defense counsel or
discovery order pursuant to Article 39.14 of the Texas Code of Criminal
Procedure. The Criminal District
Attorney’s Office reserves the right to terminate this manner of discovery, in
whole or in part at any time without notice.
Any disclosure of information through the DACS is strictly for
discovery purposes and does not constitute a public disclosure under any state or federal public information act,
including, but not limited to, the Texas Public Information Act and the Freedom
of Information Act.
You are asked to carefully read the Terms and Conditions before
contacting the Criminal District Attorney’s Office
in order to register to use the DACS.
By completing registration and receiving a password, you are indicating
that you agree with all the terms and conditions of its use.
The information contained within the DACS is CONFIDENTIAL and
is disclosed to defense counsel for the sole purpose of preparing the
Defendant’s case and with the expectation that any of the information garnered
will not be used improperly. Defense
counsel is strictly forbidden to:
·
Disseminate information to
any person for any purpose beyond what is necessary to effectively represent
the defendant; and/or
· Utilize this information to harass, threaten, or otherwise intimidate victims and/or witnesses.
· Provide printed copies of electronic discovery to any person outside of defense counsel’s employment.
Defense counsel accepts sole responsibility to ensure that none of the
information obtained from the DACS is used or disseminated improperly. Defense counsel accepts responsibility to
advise all his/her employees or agents of the limits and restrictions contained
within this agreement, with respect to the use of the DACS and to ensure that
all employees and agents abide by the terms and conditions contained herein.
Any breach of this agreement may result in the immediate termination
of the use of the DACS and in such an event discovery will be complied with by
inspection rather than by reproduction in all future cases.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURE FOR DACS ACCESS
Defense Counsel must have signed and submitted to the Criminal
District Attorney’s Office, the document entitled “Discovery Agreement” for
each case file accessed by defense counsel.
Defense Counsel will be required to register with the Criminal
District Attorney’s Office to use the DACS.
The registration process requires the attorney’s bar number, e-mail
address and a password.
Use of the DACS enables the attorney of record to access his/her
pending cases any time and from any computer with Internet access.
Defense counsel will access the DACS by entering his/her e-mail
address and a password. In the event
counsel believes his/her password has been compromised, counsel must
immediately:
1. Change the password
2. Notify the Criminal District Attorney’s Office of the compromised password via e-mail at daoffice@polkcountyda.com.
Access cannot be given to any case not yet filed with the Criminal
District Attorney or to any case where the defendant has not been
arrested. Access to a particular case
will only be given once counsel has notified the Criminal District Attorney’s
Office that counsel is attorney of record by providing a letter of
representation or if an Order of Court Appointed Counsel has been
received. Only the attorney of record
may access the DACS for a particular criminal case. Should counsel find that he/she does not
have access to a particular criminal case where counsel is of record, counsel
may request access by sending an email to: daoffice@polkcountyda.com
. Requests made on weekends, holidays,
or after 5:00 pm on regular business days will not be processed until the next
business day. Counsel’s access to a case
will remain open until disposition of the case or until counsel is no longer
the attorney of record. In the event that
defense counsel is inadvertently given access to a case for which he/she is not
the attorney of record, counsel should refrain from accessing the case and
immediately notify the Criminal District Attorney’s Office at daoffice@polkcountyda.com.
It is defense counsel’s sole responsibility to:
1. Review his/her case discovery through DACS;
2. Review the discovery prior to any court hearings , status conferences or trials for any additions or updated information;
3. Advise the Criminal District Attorney’s Office if counsel believes information is missing or incomplete;
4. Schedule an appointment to review any physical evidence;
5. Request a copy of any dvd/video; and
6. Advise the Criminal District Attorney’s office via email if there are any problems with access to the DACS.
NOTICE: Medical Records, EMS Records,
Child Protective Services Records, and any records relating to the
Juvenile cases will not be entered into DACS and thus juvenile records
will not be available for viewing.
Juvenile Discovery will be made available by appointment with the
District Attorney’s office. To make an
appointment please call (254) 629-2659.