This is a question to the forum's prosecutors. Do you require officers in your jurisdiction obtain approval from your office before the officer may seek an arrest warrant for an individual? Do you prepare the accompanying complaint (PC affidavit) for submission to the magistrate?

Janette A

While I don't require the officers to come to me first, I very strongly recommend that they do. I let it be known that no one has ever been in trouble for calling me, no matter what the hour - but that the opposite is not true. We have a good working relationship, and I don't know of any situation in years where I haven't been consulted in advance.

How much of the affidavit I prepare depends a great deal on the individual officer. I have one officer who writes as solid an affidavit as I do. I have another who shouldn't be writing affidavits at all. Everyone else falls somewhere in the middle. If they need help, I give it.

I do review all the affidavits before they go to the judge for the warrant, though. If I am going to take a case to court, I want to be sure I don't have a gaping hole in it at such an early and critical stage. A little prevention up front can save a lot of embarrassment later.

No, and they prepare the probable cause / warrant. If I supervised all that I would be on a 24-hour shift every day!

I have ever seen is in my old stomping grounds of Bell County. Every felony case is screened promptly. If the defendant is "at large", the detective faxes over the case report (or brings it in). If it looks good, an ADA prepares the affidavit for arrest and complaint. Of course, the officer is advised to make any corrections to the affidavit, as it is his or her statement (and not that of the ADA) the he or she is swearing to. The ADA swears the officer to the complaint. If the case isn't "ripe", the officer can be sent back for more legwork.

If someone has been arrested without a warrant, the officer has 48 hours to screen the case. A formal complaint and affidavit are drafted in the same manner. An ADA works a couple or mmore hours on the weekend to handle after hours cases.

This system, to me, really helps speed a case along, and the prosecutor gets good face time with the officer. If there are problems with a report, requests for additional information are made at that time, and the case is held from the grand jury until the case is complete. Similarly, if the case sucks, it can be rejected.

Defense counsel know the system, and can get discovery aalmost immediately. Many plead the case on an information, rather than waiting for indictment. If a case is bad, a defense counsel can explain why, and appropriate action can be taken.

Would this work for misdemeanors? Probably not. I don't know of an office that has enough people to screen every misdemeanor.

I think other counties use this system, but I can't tell you which. It requires a lot of cooperation between the DA and the various law enforcement agencies, but it has been proven a "win-win" situation for all.