First from 81st: DA makes history as prosecution unit nominee

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District Atty. Audrey Louis

81st District Attorney Audrey Louis has made history, having been elected to serve as the 2024 Chair of Texas’ Special Prosecutions Unit (SPU) late last year.
Louis, who took office in 2017 after defeating Rene Pena in the regional election, is the first district attorney from the 81st district to be elected to serve as chairperson of the unit.
“I am honored to begin my new position as the chair for the special prosecutions unit of Texas,” the district attorney said in a prepared statement last week. “The SPU serves a vital function for our 81st Judicial District.”
The state-wide office assists district and county attorneys in prosecuting crimes in prisons and juvenile facilities across Texas. In addition, the SPU enforces the civil commitment of sexually violent predators.
In 1999, the 76th Legislature created the Sexually Violent Predator Commitment Division (SVP) under the Health and Safety Code, Title 11, Chapter 841. The code acknowledged that a small group of sexually violent predators exits and that those predators have a behavioral abnormality that is not amendable to traditional mental illness treatment modalities and that makes the predators likely to engage in repeated predatory acts of sexual violence.
“Because of the SPU’s unique perspective on the prison culture and sexually violent offenders incarcerated within TDCJ, the SPU assists every local prosecutor representing the state with the civil commitment of individuals who upon their release are believed to be sexually violent predators and thus a danger to our society,” the district attorney said.
There are three Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) units within the district – the Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley, TDCJ Cotulla Unit, and Connally in Kenedy.
Records filed at the SPU office in Huntsville show that on June 13, 2002, a jury civilly committed Robert Hampton, who had been incarcerated at the Connally Unit.
“The SPU provides a tremendous service to our district by prosecuting all crimes that happen behind prison walls, some of which are very violent and heinous,” Louis said. “It saves our office the additional resources these prosecutions require.”
Records filed with the state show that from January 2006 t0 December 2023, the SPU handled 965 cases from the three prison units in the district.
“I have proudly served on the board of SPU since taking office and I am honored to serve as the 2024 Chair of SPU,” Louis said.