Discovery
A Letter To Defense Attorneys From The DA
Case Discovery is on the 1st Floor
Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday - Friday
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Discovery Information
Discovery is the term used to describe the information, facts, documents, and other materials the District Attorney’s Office will rely upon to prosecute a case. The accused person or defendant in a case has the right to obtain access to this information to prepare their defense. After a case has been referred to our office by a law enforcement agency and charges have been filed, our office will open a case against the defendant. All investigative reports and other information is placed in the case file as it is received and will become discovery in the case. The discovery will then be available for the defense counsel or the defendant. The District Attorney has an “all or nothing” policy with regard to discovery. All requests for discovery will be treated as continuing requests until a case is closed. Additional discovery received in a case will be processed, and provided until the case is closed or counsel notifies us they have withdrawn.
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Victim Discovery
With DA approval, victims of crime may request and receive partial discovery for the criminal incident in which they are a victim. We do not release discovery on criminal matters that do not have future pending court dates or when the criminal matter is closed with the court. If you are a victim of crime and would like to request discovery, please submit an order for the discovery through our online ordering system.
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Requesting Discovery
Discovery may be ordered via the website (see Order Discovery) or in-person at the Discovery Department located in the District Attorney’s Office. Misdemeanor and Traffic cases may be requested after Arraignment. Felony and Juvenile cases may be requested after Filing of Charges.
Discovery will not be released to the Defendant if they are represented by counsel Discovery is needed for Evaluations ordered by the court, i.e., Domestic Violence Evaluations and/or Classes.
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Discovery Pickup Information
Defendants will be required to provide photo identification at time of pick up. The Discovery Department will notify you when discovery is available for pick up. You may bring a USB drive to pick up the Discovery you ordered. Alternately, if you do not have access to a USB drive, the discovery will be provided to you on a disc. Initial discovery for all cases may take 3-5 business days to process after the request has been made.
Discovery Orders that are ready and are waiting to be picked up for more than 90 days will be considered Refused/Expired. These orders will be removed from our system and will have to be re-ordered.
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Discovery Delivery via Website Download
For Attorneys Only
Attorneys may register to receive a Discovery Order by downloading files from our eDelivery website, instead of having to physically come to our office.
The discovery process is triggered with our office when an order is placed through our online ordering system.
We do not release discovery on criminal matters that do not have future pending court dates or when the criminal matter is closed with the court. There are minimal exceptions to this. The exception is if the case has come back after appeal or a revocation hearing is scheduled with the Courts and a new attorney is appointed. If you need additional clarification or have additional questions about whether your situation is an exception, please call the District Attorney’s Office at 719.520.6000.