Friday, April 25, 2025
National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW) is observed annually from April 6-12, with this year’s theme, "KINSHIP: Connecting, Healing, and Advocating for All Victims." NCVRW is a week dedicated to raising awareness about crime victims’ rights and needs along with programs and resources put in place to support them.
The Coryell County District Attorney’s (DA) Office observes NCVRW and sees it as an opportunity to bring awareness surrounding the impact crime has on the community and victims.
“This annual observance challenges all of us to build better communities through relationships with the survivors, victims, and advocates,” District Attorney Dusty Boyd said. “All these efforts hold the potential to help people cope and heal in order to move forward with their lives.”
The DA’s Office has served and advocated for over a thousand victims of crime through legal processes over the past year while providing services and support through their office and other local organizations such as the Hidden Gem Family Center and Righteous Roots Crisis Resource Center.
The DA Office’s platform is used to educate victims and survivors of crime on how a case navigates its way through the system. Boyd said, with that knowledge, victims and survivors of crime can learn and understand what to expect from the process along with the services that are available to them.
Services include, but are not limited to, compensation, counseling, relocation, referrals for medical care, and much more.
“On a daily basis, we recognize that survivors and victims of crime are coping with trauma, and our role is to provide a platform to assist them in navigating a very difficult time in their lives, in addition to educating and supporting them through the criminal justice process,” Boyd said.
It’s the DA Office’s mission to ensure that victims’ rights are upheld by engaging and communicating with victims and survivors in every step of the criminal justice process and exposing them to as many services as possible, such as other non-governmental agencies and local non-profits. Initiatives outside of Coryell County are also made available to give a wholistic approach.
According to Boyd, the most common challenge victims face in Coryell County is understanding that the legal system can be lengthy from start to finish, especially with more serious crimes, which take a significant time to work their way through the justice system.
“We must rely on overburdened crime laboratories and other crime facilities to conduct testing on evidence that often takes some time to perform,” Boyd said. “We communicate with our survivors and victims in a way that is honest about how long these matters may take, so they can mentally and physically prepare for the amount of time it takes.”
This year, the DA’s Office will be engaged in outreach efforts through law enforcement agencies, medical providers, and other stakeholders to recognize, support, and maintain our relationships with them to further serve the county’s victims.
The public can support survivors and victims of crime by becoming involved with the crime victim advocates within the DA’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office as well as by supporting or getting involved with the Hidden Gem Family Center and Righteous Roots Crisis Resource Center.
“In participating in this weeklong initiative, it’s our hope that we can pause to recognize that supporting survivors and victims of crime is the centerpiece of our criminal justice processes here in Coryell County,” Boyd said. “We believe that, in supporting those impacted by crime, we project the values that are inherent here in our county: service, compassion, and support.”
The Coryell County DA’s Office can be reached by contacting 254-865-5911 and is located at 201 South 7th Street.
