Texas Department of Criminal Justice Victim Services Division Your RIGHTS Your VOICE Your PARTICIPATION Services we provide To help provide you with swift and courteous service, we have established a toll-free telephone number to be used only by victims and their families. You can call 800-848-4284, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. CST. We are offering e-mail notification in addition to our letter notification. We invite you to contact the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Victim Services Division to provide us with your e-mail address and notification preference. All of your contact information will remain confidential. We Provide: • Victim Notification; • Assistance in determining offender status; • Processing of Victim Impact Statements (VIS), protests, and other information submitted by victims, concerned citizens, or victim service providers; • Assistance to victims with requests for interviews or meetings with Parole Board members during parole review process; • Explanation of parole and mandatory supervision laws; • Training of criminal justice professionals on crime victims’ rights and sensitivity issues; • Prison tours for victims, concerned citizens, and criminal justice professionals; • Victim witness preparation prior to and accompaniment when viewing an execution; • In-person meetings with offenders through Victim Offender Mediation Dialogue if requested by the victim and upon approval and preparation by our office; • Information and referral services for victim service providers and victims of crime through the Texas Crime Victim Clearinghouse; • Referral for restitution inquiries; • Statewide educational conference for victims, victim service providers, and criminal justice professionals; • Opportunity for victims to participate on victim impact panels and speak about their victimization to criminal justice professionals and offenders. Victims are welcome to visit us to obtain information and discuss concerns. We suggest that you make an appointment so we can better serve you. Contact us at 800-848-4284 or via email at victim.svc@tdcj.state.tx.us IMPORTANT REMINDER PLEASE NOTIFY OUR OFFICE IF YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS, MAILING ADDRESS OR TELEPHONE NUMBER CHANGES Be Informed. Be Involved. The TDCJ Victim Services Division is responsible for a written victim notification system to keep victims informed of offender status after conviction and sentencing to the TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division. Some points of the confidential Victim Notification System are: • Offender enters the parole review process; • Parole review process is completed and release is denied; • Offender receives a tentative favorable action (vote) for release; • Parole Board decides the offender must serve the minimum time required and then be released on supervision; • Offender’s release certificate is issued for parole or mandatory supervision; • The offender’s parole or mandatory supervision is revoked by the Parole Board; • Offender dies while incarcerated or while under supervision; and • Offender escapes and when recaptured. In addition to our written victim notification letters and e-mails, victims and their families can retrieve limited offender status information via telephone 24 hours a day through the Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) system by calling 877-894-8463 and entering their Personal Identification Number (PIN) provided by the TDCJ Victim Services Division. The VINE system gives victims the opportunity to obtain limited offender status from the time of the offender’s arrest through completion of the sentence. If requested, VINE can call victims automatically to notify them that their offender is being processed for release. If a victim was registered with VINE in the county where the offender was jailed while awaiting trial, he or she will need to register for the automated VINE call again after conviction—when the offender enters the TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division. To register call: 800-848-4284 The VINE program is designed to provide victims with quick and easy access to limited information regarding the offender’s status. To register for complete written notification and be involved in the protest process, the victim must register with the TDCJ Victim Services Division. Contact us at: 800-848-4284 or victim.svc@tdcj.state.tx.us Participating in the review process As often as you wish, you may send protest e-mails or letters to our office to be included in an offender’s file. You may describe how the crime affected you and continues to impact you and your family. Any new information, pictures, pertinent newspaper articles, etc., may be included, all of which will be placed in the offender’s file for the Parole Board’s consideration during the parole review process. This is a permanent file; anything submitted will remain in the file and cannot be returned. As a victim you may request to meet with a Parole Board member during the offender’s parole review process. You may also request any special conditions you think should be imposed on the offender if released. For example, you may request that, upon release the offender not be allowed to enter your county of residence. All correspondence and phone calls, including the VIS, are confidential. Your Voice: Victim Impact Statement The Victim Impact Statement (VIS) is your chance to describe how the crime has affected you. The VIS is a form used by victims of crime, the guardian of a victim, or a close relative of a deceased victim to record the emotional, physical, and financial impact the crime has had on their lives. The VIS is considered by prosecutors, judges, and Parole Board members when making important decisions involving your case. Prosecutors may use information in the VIS to help present a case to the court and to request restitution as part of the sentence. The judge may consider the information in the VIS before accepting a plea bargain. If the defendant receives community supervision (probation), the VIS is accessible to the probation officer. If the defendant is sentenced to state prison, the VIS is included with the commitment papers to the TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division. Information contained in the VIS is used by the TDCJ Victim Services Division to provide notification to victims regarding the parole review process, which includes an offender’s status and release. The VIS is considered by Parole Board members prior to voting a case during the parole review process. You may obtain a VIS from county and district attorneys and victim service providers throughout the state as well as from our office. You may also download the VIS from our website in Microsoft Word and PDF formats. If you did not complete a VIS and would like to, call or write to us; we will send you the VIS. If requested, we will add your name, address, and phone number to our confidential victim notification database. Protective Order If an offender is the subject of a protective order that was issued on or after September 1, 1999, and is confined or imprisoned on the date the protective order expires, the Texas Family Code, Section 85.025(c) mandates that the protective order be extended for one year from the date the offender is released from confinement or imprisonment. If you would like to initiate the process for extending a protective order, please contact the Texas Advocacy Project at 512-476- 5386 or 888-325-SAFE (7233). Restitution Some offenders are ordered to pay financial restitution to compensate victims for losses incurred as a result of the crime. Restitution can be ordered only by the sentencing judge and must be recorded on the sentence and judgment or order revoking probation. The TDCJ Victim Services Division does not provide restitution services. For more information about restitution, contact the TDCJ Business & Finance Division at 866-464-4137. Victim Offender Mediation Dialogue Victim Offender Mediation Dialogue is a program initiated at the request of the surviving victim(s) or surviving family members in cases of violent crime. The purpose is to provide victims the opportunity to have a structured in-person meeting with their offender(s) in a secure, safe environment in order to facilitate a healing process. Victims may receive answers to questions and experience a sense of empowerment through participation. For more information about the program, contact the TDCJ Victim Services Division, Victim Offender Mediation/Dialogue Program at 800-848-4284. It is our goal to ensure that victims are not left behind at the crime scene but can be involved, if they desire, at any stage of the criminal justice process. Texas Department of Criminal Justice Victim Services Division 8712 Shoal Creek Blvd., Suite 265 Austin, Texas 78757-6899 800-848-4284 Fax: 512-452-0825 E-mail: victim.svc@tdcj.state.tx.us Visit the TDCJ website at: www.tdcj.state.tx.us The mission of Victim Services Division is to provide a central mechanism for crime victims to participate in the Criminal Justice System.