For most people in Bexar County, the criminal justice system operates quietly in the background until something goes wrong. When it does, the decisions made inside the District Attorney’s Office suddenly matter a lot.
In this ongoing episode of So You Got Arrested podcast, attorney Scott Simpson sits down with Meredith Chacon, a former longtime prosecutor and current candidate in the Bexar County District Attorney race, to talk candidly about what’s broken inside the DA’s office and what meaningful reform would actually look like.
This blog is drawn from real conversations on So You Got Arrested, the criminal defense podcast hosted by BRCK Criminal Defense Attorneys.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Wherever you tune in, you’ll hear honest conversations about the Texas justice system from the people who see it up close.
The Importance of the Bexar County DA Race
Throughout the discussion, it becomes clear that the district attorney’s role is more complex than commonly framed public debates suggest. The district attorney controls:
- Which cases are accepted or rejected
- How quickly cases move
- Whether weak cases are dismissed early or linger
- How prosecutors are trained and supervised
- Whether victims and defendants are treated like people or numbers
As Scott Simpson puts it later in the episode, the DA may be the elected official who impacts daily life in Bexar County more than anyone else.
Communication Inside the DA’s Office
A major portion of the episode focuses on what Chacon describes as a serious communication failure within the DA’s office, especially between units that should be working together.
“There’s a disconnect right now,” she says. “They’ve created what I would call a wall that prevents communication.” Chacon gives troubling real-world examples, including cases where:
- Child victims were lost in the system while in foster care
- Criminal cases were dismissed or never indicted because prosecutors weren’t tracking CPS cases
- Parallel cases moved forward without prosecutors sharing critical information
In other terms, different arms of the same office weren’t talking to each other, and kids paid the price.
How DA Office Structure Affects Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Cases
The conversation then turns to how Bexar County organizes its prosecution units, particularly for family violence, child abuse, and sex crimes. Historically, Bexar County grouped:
- Family violence
- Adult sex crimes
- Child victim cases
…into a single unit. Chacon argues that while communication across units is essential, specialization matters.
“Child cases need different skills,” she explains. “The caseload has become too great for prosecutors to be experts in everything.” Other large counties, she notes, separate child victim cases into their own units, allowing prosecutors to develop deeper expertise while still coordinating across divisions.
Why Leadership Matters More Than Reorganization
Both Simpson and Chacon agree that structure alone doesn’t fix dysfunction. Leadership does. One example they discuss is a prior attempt to redistribute family violence cases into the general trial division: an idea that wasn’t necessarily wrong but failed because it wasn’t supported from the top.
“The buy-in wasn’t there,” Chacon explains. “If leadership doesn’t set expectations, people resist.”
Her position is clear: reforms only work when the DA makes expectations non-negotiable, including collaboration, mentorship, and accountability.
Prosecutorial Discretion and the Case Backlog Problem
As the conversation shifts to numbers, Chacon points to publicly available data from the Office of Court Administration. In 2024 alone:
- 61% of misdemeanor family violence cases were dismissed
- The trial conviction rate for those cases was roughly 17%
“That’s alarming,” Chacon says, not because dismissals are inherently bad but because when and why they’re happening matters. “If you push weak cases through intake,” she explains, “you leave prosecutors with cases they can’t prove.”
That leads to:
- Endless resets
- Victims not being contacted
- Last-minute dismissals
- Burned-out prosecutors with no discretion
Dismissals, in her view, should happen earlier, not after months or years of delay.
The Missing Piece in the DA’s Office
One of the most human moments in the episode comes when Chacon talks about young prosecutors. “I see good talent,” she says. “But they’re frustrated. They don’t feel supported.”
She contrasts today’s environment with earlier years, when:
- Senior prosecutors mentored younger ones
- Regular training sessions were held
- “Sister court” systems allowed guidance from experienced attorneys
“There was an open-door culture,” she explains. “That’s missing now.” She even recounts a moment when a first-year prosecutor broke down in tears, saying they were ready to quit until hearing Chacon had entered the DA race.
What the Bexar County DA Race Means for Victims and Defendants
Toward the end of the episode, the conversation widens to something often lost in political debates: dignity. Chacon emphasizes that prosecutors don’t just represent victims; they have a duty to treat the accused fairly as well.
“These are human beings,” she says. “Often having the worst day of their lives.” She recalls her time as a magistrate judge setting bonds at the jail. “There’s no point in being ugly,” she explains. “You can be firm and still be humane.”
This perspective runs through her entire platform: accountability for those who harm the vulnerable, paired with fairness, discretion, and transparency.