March 10, 2014 – The National District Attorneys Association, located in Alexandria, Va., and the University of Utah announced today that the new National Criminal Justice Academy will open on March 10, 2014, and hold its first week-long course at the S.J. Quinney College of Law in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The academy was established to train district attorneys and assistant prosecutors from across the country and was formerly located in Columbia, S.C. After a nationwide search to find a new location, Salt Lake City, Utah, was selected by the NDAA’s 105 board members for its combination of excellent skills training, expertise in criminal law, and inviting, easily accessible location.
College of Law administrators and faculty have worked with NDAA’s Executive Director Scott Burns for the past three years to make this partnership a reality. While housed in South Carolina, the NDAA had an annual budget of $5 million and provided training to as many as 1,000 prosecutors annually in areas ranging from courtroom skills to the prosecution of homicide, child abuse and domestic violence cases.
“We are delighted that NDAA has chosen to partner with us to provide training for prosecutors across the country,” said S.J. Quinney College of Law Interim Dean Bob Adler. “America’s prosecutors face difficult challenges in an increasingly complex system of criminal justice. Working in tandem with the NDAA, the College of Law can help provide training to meet these challenges. At the same time, these training programs will benefit our faculty and students as we bring both veteran and newer prosecutors to our campus.”
The academy is currently funded by a $1.175 million grant from the Department of Justice, which pays for participants’ airfare, lodging and per diem while they are in Salt Lake City. The NDAA, University of Utah, National Association of Attorneys General, American Bar Association and district attorneys from across the country are currently working to sustain permanent funding for the academy and to make Salt Lake City the training home of America’s prosecutors.