Dear Friends,

After much thought, prayer, and reflection with my family, I have decided that I will not be seeking another term in 2022. Serving as your District Attorney has been one of the greatest honors of my life. When I first ran for the position, I pledged to serve you by being transparent, accessible and ethical while following and upholding the letter of the law. I committed to modernizing the office by reorganizing its resources and creating new specialized units to meet the changes in our society. Today, I feel confident that our mission has been achieved.

As I reflect on the past seven years as your District Attorney for Tarrant County, countless memories come to mind. One, is a case our office prosecuted, involving a young woman who was incapacitated due to alcohol and drug use. Unfortunately, three men attacked her, sexually assaulted her, filmed their crime and widely disseminated the video. The woman courageously testified on behalf of the prosecution despite her fear of the moral judgement that would take place due to her drug and alcohol use prior to the attack. Prosecutors often live daily among the worst our society offers. This case, this courageous lady, was memorable because her past did not keep her or our lawyers from seeking the justice she deserved. 

My number one goal when I was sworn in as your District Attorney in 2015 was to seek justice for all, for every person in our community regardless of their place in life, where they lived or their background. Justice does not and should never depend on a where a victim was born, what they look like or what they believe. 

During my time in office, we have enhanced public safety by enforcing criminal and civil laws through the creation of specialized teams such as Elder Financial Fraud and Intimate Partner Violence. We have encouraged rehabilitation for deserving first-time, non-violent offenders through our Deferred Prosecution Program. We have worked to earn the public’s trust through transparency by creating the first District Attorney office’s Annual Report in Texas. We educated victims of crimes and other members of the public by creating the Citizen Prosecutor Academy.

We are reminded daily that as prosecutors, no day is unimportant, no decision irrelevant and especially, no relationship immaterial. I am most grateful for the diligent and dedicated work of the women and men who come to work every day and represent the District Attorney’s Office with integrity, intelligence, hard work and a never wavering focus on justice. I will always respect those who uphold the premise of our justice system by representing the accused. And I will forever remember and be humbled by the victims we assisted and their loved ones. 

As I look to the next chapter of my life- time spent with grandkids and family, please know I will never forget and will forever be grateful for your support and encouragement over the years. To the citizens of Tarrant County, your trust has never been taken for granted and it has been my deepest honor to serve you. Thank you for allowing me the pleasure.
Sincerely,
Sharen Wilson
District Attorney
Achievements Since Taking Office

Sharen Wilson took office as the Criminal District Attorney of Tarrant County in January 2015, being the first woman to hold the office in Tarrant County. DA Wilson has modernized the office by reorganizing its resources and creating new specialized units to meet the changing criminal justice needs of the nation’s 15th most populous county. Achievements while in office include: 

  1. Served as a financial steward of tax dollars by establishing efficient operations, leading the office to come in under budget every year in office, while also meeting challenges of growing population and increased technology.
  2. Developed comprehensive Discovery Compliance protocols for law enforcement agencies and crime labs, the first such policies in Texas. The Texas Legislature passed recommendations for district attorneys statewide, which were modeled after procedures created and implemented by DA Wilson, regarding how to manage jailhouse informants.
  3. Founded Tarrant County’s first Conviction Integrity Unit to guarantee scrupulous and accountable prosecution, one of only 17 in the nation at the time of its founding.
  4. Enhanced the Special Victims Unit, expanding its focus from prosecuting sexual assaults against children to include those crimes against the elderly and disabled.
  5. Partnered with local community and law enforcement agencies in a taskforce fighting against human trafficking. The DA’s office assigned a prosecutor solely focused on prosecuting these trafficking cases.
  6. Created an Intimate Partner Violence Team tasked with identifying and prosecuting the most violent family violence offenders.
  7. Formed the Elder Financial Fraud Team which prosecutes those who target seniors, works diligently to retrieve their assets, and provides education to law enforcement, businesses and community organizations on how to prevent elder fraud in the community.
  8. Initiated the Tarrant County Law Enforcement Incident Team, which investigates officer-involved shootings.
  9. Collaborated in the launch of the first Diversion Court Program for First Responders in Texas. The program aims to work with police officers, firefighters and EMT’s who have been accused of low-level offenses tied to mental conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder to get them back on track to being productive members of society.
  10. Enhanced the Digital Forensics and Technology Services Team, which uses state-of-the-art technology to image, analyze and interpret data from audio, video, cellular, and computer sources.
  11. Supported the Tarrant Regional Auto Crimes Task Force, a multi-agency initiative focused on auto thefts, by assigning the first dedicated auto crimes prosecutor in Texas.
  12. Established the Citizen Prosecutor Academy, which is a 12-week program designed to give citizens an in-depth understanding of the criminal justice system in Tarrant County.
  13. Honored and celebrated the 100 year anniversary of the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office in 2019 with the book, A Century of Seeking Justice, 1919 – 2019 and by striking a commemorative coin.
  14. Promoted transparency by publishing the first in Texas DA’s Office annual report, which was supplemented with quarterly newsletters, and enhanced accessibility by completing an unprecedented number of town halls. 
  15. Committed to enhancing dialogue and trust among the various law enforcement agencies by assigning liaisons in the District Attorney’s office to each police department and created a secure Police Lounge in the DA building for officers who must spend long hours on site waiting to testify in trials.
  16. Strove to eliminate discrimination in the justice system by enhancing training to include diversity and inclusion, managing bias and preventing harassment and discrimination.
  17. With a drastic 34,000% increase in police body camera footage, dash camera footage, home and business surveillance camera footage since 2012, DA Wilson dedicated key resources to the review and preparation of digital evidence for criminal prosecution cases.
  18. Partnered with bar associations and community organizations to increase the availability of expunctions and non-disclosures.
  19. Developed the Prosecutors in High School program, which is a partnership with area high schools that is designed to build trust and knowledge between students and criminal justice partners.
  20. Updated and expanded the decades-old Deferred Prosecution Program (DPP), a program designed to give first time offenders who are 17 to 25-years-old a chance to rehabilitate without the stigma of a criminal conviction. In conjunction, created the Deferred Prosecution Initiative was created, which gives first time offenders who are 25 and older a second chance to remove the crime from their record if they successfully pass a six-month program and stay clean.
  21. Enhanced efficiency in the DA’s office by creating the Chief of Staff Division, the first organizational structure for administrative responsibilities. The division unifies departments and has oversight of the budget, human resources, facilities, Victim Advocates, community outreach, and communications capabilities.