BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE AUTAUGA NEWS
19th Judicial District Attorney CJ Robinson was a guest of the Elmore County Commission earlier this week, to give an update on how additional funding from the commission helped local victims.
Robinson’s district includes Autauga, Chilton and Elmore Counties. Aside from being the District Attorney, Robinson has spent an enormous amount of time furthering his education concerning law enforcement from an officer’s perspective. He is rare in that he is a certified law enforcement officer in his own rite, and successfully completed a full officer’s academy. Most recently he successfully completed SWAT training with the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office. We will feature more on that in a future article.
In the past he has said these experiences only help him to see things from an officer’s perspective when it comes to working by the letter of the law.
However, his primary job is fighting for the rights of victims, and that is what brought him to the commission earlier this week.
Last year Robinson approached the Elmore County Commission about additional funding that would help his office.
“With regards to the DA’s office, there are several ways that funding ties into here,” Robinson said. “There is some statutory funding that goes through some old acts from the 70s. We have some ADECA funding through a grant that comes in through domestic violence. You may not know this, but that particular grant, once upon a time, was distributed among task forces.”
Robinson continued, “Now, we are the only law enforcement-based entity in the state of Alabama that still receives funding through that ADECA grant. It used to be exclusively through law enforcement. Now, it is pretty much all dried up except for us. I think that speaks to the job that we do; the way we handle our business, the partnerships we have made. We are the last ones standing.”
Robinson wanted to update the Commission on what he was able to do with the additional funding they offered, and the impact it has had on his office.
“Thank you so much for that. I could throw a bunch of numbers and statistics where I could show you, we are in the top five of in that state with case load. I will just break it down like this.”
Robinson said in a normal year in his three counties, the office has approximately 24 trial weeks in a calendar year for the different judges.
“We also have eight weeks of grand jury. In the last year, coming out of Covid, things take some time to get through the legal system. There is still some backlog we are dealing with,” he said.
Last year alone, Robinson said in a 52-week calendar year, his office had 49 trial weeks. He had 18 weeks of grand jury. He said when you start doing the math, a lot of weeks have holidays. On every single case, there are victims involved that also need attention.
“When I had one victim service officer, those are services and victims where we were flipping a coin to see what courtroom we were sending people to. If I had someone to send, that was someone who typically processes paperwork, or takes payments on check cases, trying to service victims. That is not what their calling is.”
The funding that was provided by the commission, in conjunction with Autauga and Chilton County funding, Robinson was able to provide another victim service officer.
“There was never a Circuit Court or a trial week in this circuit, especially with Elmore County, where victims had to come to court and there was not somebody there they had an established relationship with. They were there to walk through the process. They were there to provide them with whatever they needed, to answer their questions. It wasn’t where the attorneys and us were not up there doing back flips to get things done.”
Robinson said that is extremely important.
“I’ve said many times, the attorneys in our office are kind of like the captains of the team. They’re over here doing stuff. But our MVPs are our victim service officers. They’re the ones that make everything happen. They get the paperwork lined up, communicate directly with victims. Because of the generosity of this Commission, we never had a single court date that I could not send a victim service officer to be there for the citizens. And let’s face it. They (the victims) are in court because of the single worst day of their life has happened.”
Robinson said that he was very proud to have someone there for them while attorneys were at the bench arguing to be able to service the victims and provide them what they needed to answer questions. “We were able to do that because of your generosity. Thank you.”
Commission Chairman Bart Mercer said the Commission talks a lot about the foundational organizations within Elmore County and how important they really are.
“Of course, one of them is our sheriff’s office and all law enforcement officers. Whatever they deal with, if it’s to do with crime, it will ultimately come to you. We know when it gets to your office it will be properly dealt with. We are not going to have to deal with some things we hear taking place across the United States when it comes to their district attorney not supporting our law enforcement officers. We find great confidence in that, and we appreciate what you do, and what people do in your office to help protect our citizens.”
Desirae Lewis Jackson is a Commission member and attorney and told Robinson she sees the court system at work firsthand on a regular basis.
“I saw it firsthand today in fact. We had jury trials in Autauga County and those victim service officers were the first ones that deal and speak with the victims. In a case I had today, the conversation they had with the victim actually helped resolve the case that I was representing someone on. Sometimes they go above and beyond in their positions, so you already know I appreciate what you all do. Even if you’re against me I still understand. We all have a job to do. But we all have the same goal, and that is justice for who we’re representing in the state of Alabama.”
Robinson took that time to again lay praise on the Commission for the additional funding for his office. “It has kept up from having to triage victims like an emergency room which is never a good thing to do. This has enabled us to not have to do that.”
Commissioner Henry Hines told Robinson he appreciates him, and all his staff.
“You have an outstanding staff, and it’s an honor in Elmore County to have you all represent us. Thank you.”
Commissioner Mack Daugherty said he and Commissioner Dennis Hill can speak from long law enforcement career perspectives on how important a strong DA’s office is for any community.
“Not every county in this state has a relationship like we have between the DA’s office and law enforcement. During my career with Russell Lands, I had to travel to numerous counties. A lot of time there’s even an adversarial atmosphere between those two entities. We are so blessed to have you and your staff. You work together and support law enforcement, the victims and their families. We are so appreciative of you.”
Commissioner Dennis Hill told Robinson he has worked in law enforcement throughout the state and dealt with many district attorneys.
“I will continue to say it. We probably have the best District Attorneys Office in the state that is fair, gets down to work and gets the job done. You take care of business, and I really do appreciate that. I know you couldn’t do everything you do without a good staff.”
In closing, Robinson said that he currently has about 44 employees, which has grown significantly over the past few years.
“I try to instill in everybody, don’t do something just because we can. Do it because it is the right thing to do. If you all ever see any of my staff or myself slipping on that, you be the first ones to call me out.”
Photos below: We will soon have a feature story on 19th Judicial District Attorney CJ Robinson. He can wear many different suits when the situation arises. Stay tuned. Robinson’s district includes Autauga, Chilton and Elmore counties.
