Travis County Attorney Office Policy on Disclosure of Privileged Communications

If any assistant county attorney has or obtains actual knowledge that he or she is in possession or control of a potentially privileged communication between a lawyer and a criminal defendant, the assistant county attorney shall immediately stop reviewing the potentially privileged communication and notify his or her supervising attorney within the county attorney's office (Division Director, Court Chief, Assistant Director, and Director as available). The supervising attorney(s) and the assistant county attorney shall consult about all relevant factors, and, if the communication is in fact privileged communication and disclosure is appropriate, the assistant county attorney shall disclose the existence and possession of the privileged communication to the defendant's lawyer no later than two business days after notifying his or her supervising attorney. As soon as practicable, the assistant county attorney should coordinate with defendant's lawyer to provide them all known copies of the privileged communication in the possession of the county attorney's office and should discuss next steps. If the communication is a recording, the supervisor should notify the creating entity of the recording, such as the Travis County Sheriff's Office. In certain circumstances, disclosure of the possession of privileged communication may not be appropriate, such as during an investigation in which a search warrant authorizing law enforcement to listen to phone calls in a matter in which a defendant or a defendant's lawyer is the focus of that investigation or where the defendant has waived the privilege.