Madera County District Attorney
Citizens Academy

An overview of the Criminal Justice Process

Learn about the role of the District Attorney, how the District Attorney interacts with Judges, Defense Attorneys, Law Enforcement and more. There will also be a brief discussion on state policy and how those restrictions affect the District Attorney as well as local communities.

Investigations

Learn the role of investigations and District Attorney Investigators. Learn about the special types of investigations a District Attorney Investigator handles. Some of these include Public Assistance Fraud, Voter Fraud, Prison Crimes, Extraditions, Madera PD SIU-Task Force member and more. Academy participants will have an opportunity to investigate a mock crime scene and learn about the collection of evidence.

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Community Prosecution and

Collaborative Courts

Learn about the Prosecution Unit, Drug Court, Veterans Treatment Court, the Probation Department’s role and more. There will be a special tour of the Madera County Court House during this session.

Special Victim Cases

Learn about the prosecution of domestic violence, elder abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Additionally, learn about Victim resources, such as the Community Action Partnership of Madera County (CAPMC), Victim Advocacy, the District Attorney’s Office court support dog, “Callie”, Marsy’s Rights and restitution from the California Victim Compensation Board.

Community-Affected Cases

Learn about community impacted cases and how investigations play a large role with solving and providing testimony for the court process. Madera County Assistant Sheriff Blehm will present a local murder case of a young lady who was tragically taken from the Madera community. This was a highly publicized incident, which aired on an episode of Investigation Discovery, in the Fall of 2025. The California Highway Patrol will also be joining this session and will talk about the impacts of impaired driving.

Stay Involved

Dinner will be provided as a thank you to those who committed and completed the 6-week Citizens Academy. Following dinner, Madera Justice Partners will present volunteer opportunities to further engage within the community. To conclude the academy, awards will be presented to the graduates.