Victim's Informer Newsletter - Texas Department of Criminal Justice

SPOTLIGHT on Victim Services DivisionThe AmazingLinda Starnes25 Years of Dedicated Service to the People of Texasby Libby Hamiltonlinda starnesWe in Victim Serviceswork hard to provide victims andtheir families the informationand notification afforded tothem in the Crime Victim Bill ofRights. Among us is a womanwho commits countless hours toensuring the accuracy of our work,and she is about to celebrate a veryimportant landmark within ouragency.Linda Starnes will mark her25th anniversary with the TexasDepartment of Criminal Justice inMarch 2009. Having received abachelor of arts degree in politicalscience from Radford Universityin Virginia, Linda and her familymoved to Austin, and she beganworking as a file clerk in the ParoleDivision in 1984. It didn’t takelong for her superiors to realizehow hard of a worker she was,so the promotions began. Firstas a clerical supervisor, then upto Administrative Assistant, andnext she became an analyst in theReview & Release Processing section.In August 2000 Linda was hired asan analyst with the Victim ServicesDivision. Her commitment anddedication as an analyst led to apromotion as a Program Specialist III,focusing on the Victim Informationand Notification Everyday (VINE)system in the Notification Section.She has also been involved with theBridges to Life program.During her time at Victim Services,Linda has seen a large increase inthe number of victimsregistered on ourVictim NotificationSystem, and hasworked tirelesslyto make certainthat each personreceives themost accurateand updatedinformationpossible. Mrs.Starnes arrivesat work early eachmorning, stays late each evening,and is highly respected by each ofus in Victim Services. Mark Odom,Deputy Director of VSD, said, “LindaStarnes has always placed a highpriority on loyalty and dedication.More importantly, she has the heartand commitment to serve crimevictims. She has been a critical partof the success of our division’s goal toinvolve victims in the criminal justiceprocess.”TxCVCVOL.14, N.1 – MAR/APR 20095