Travis County DA’s office pursuing 337 sexual assault cases out of 1,000+ reported

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — There have been more than 1,000 sexual assault cases reported in Travis County over the last two years, according to the Austin-Travis County Sexual Assault Response and Resource Team (SARRT).

So far, the district attorney's office said it has decided to move forward with 337 of them, according to details provided during Tuesday’s Travis County Commissioners Court meeting.

Out of those accepted, 252 were brought before a grand jury with 246 indictments.

However, county leaders said the program needed more funding.

Because the SARRT coordinator was not a full-time position, Shelli Egger with the Texas Legal Services Center said there was an imbalance within the team.

“Not having more funding that is just dedicated to the SARRT really helps maintain the power imbalance,” Egger said.

Officials said more funding for the program would also go toward training and maintaining a database for sexual assault investigations.