The Galveston County Criminal District Attorney's Office represents the State of Texas in all felony criminal cases, working with police to investigate, prepare, and prosecute crimes in courts, aiming to ensure justice, not just convictions. They handle major cases like felonies, present evidence to grand juries, assist law enforcement, represent victims in protective orders, and also manage juvenile cases and appeals, making critical decisions on filing charges and setting charges' severity. They serve a 4-year term.
During the past 37 years, I have prosecuted a wide variety of federal crimes such as drugs, immigration, firearms, all types of fraud such as bank, health care, mail, social security, wire, and tax. I have also prosecuted assaults and attempted murder of federal agents. I supervised a federal death penalty case which resulted from the fatal physical abuse of a child. I have developed experience from the approximately 200 jury trials in which I was lead counsel. I have leadership and management skills developed from leading Marines for 5 years and for 13 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney-in-Charge of the Corpus Christi Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas. The Corpus Christi USAO had approximately 20 attorneys and 20 support staff. As a federal prosecutor, I have worked with federal, state, and local law enforcement agents/officers, often working together in task forces, which provided me experience with coordinating law enforcement personnel and resources to achieve a more significant result than if done separately by the agencies. The discipline, integrity, and perseverance I acquired, maintained, and utilized during my career prosecuting criminal cases make me the best nominee for Galveston County District Attorney.
1. Create and implement policies and procedures within the District Attorney's Office to increase its effectiveness and efficiency. The minimal administrative guidelines employed in this office require an overhaul and clearer guidance from a published office policy and procedures manual. The processes of case intake, bond decisions, review and preparation of cases for charging by complaint or grand jury, and case disposition must be revised to achieve consistency throughout the office.
2. Increase the proficiency and professionalism of the District Attorney's Office by providing clear leadership, guidance, and training to the attorneys and administrative staff. Increasing morale within the office can also be achieved by seeking the optimum number of personnel and appropriate compensation.
Jennifer started as an intern at the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office in 2001. It was there that Jennifer realized that prosecution was her calling. She graduated from South Texas College of Law in 2003 and immediately went back to her passion, prosecution, in January of 2004.
Jennifer started as a misdemeanor prosecutor in 2004 and quickly rose through the ranks to become a felony 2 prosecutor within the same year. She was tasked with trying major felony cases and became a Chief felony prosecutor in 2006.
Jennifer has always wanted to seek justice. Jennifer has been a child abuse prosecutor and a felony Court Chief. As a felony Court chief, Jennifer first chaired Capital Murders, Murders, Aggravated Robberies, Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child cases and many more. Jennifer has over 80 jury trials. In 2017, Jennifer was the honored to become Chief of the Public Integrity Division. It was there that she was tasked with prosecuting public corruption cases.
After over 18 years of Public Service, Jennifer left the GCDAO in 2022 because her legal and ethical standards were no longer aligned with the Office, she put her she put her heart and soul into. When she left her beloved job, she became a criminal defense attorney to better understand the system. Since then she has worked as a public defender trying to better understand all aspects of the system. Her 22+ year journey has shown her that experience, integrity and accountability need to be integral to the GCDAO.
Jennifer Ott believes in building safer communities through effective prosecution, crime prevention, and working closely with the law enforcement community. With a focus on experience, integrity and accountability, Jennifer aims to implement policies that address the root causes of crime while also ensuring that victims receive the support and justice they deserve. Jennifer also intends on continuing her passion of being the voice for those who need justice.
With over 20 years of experience in the criminal justice field, Jennifer will bring a wide range of experience back to the office of the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office. Jennifer will be dedicated to bringing back and hiring individuals who not only have experience but have her same vision of making Galveston County a safer community. Jennifer is dedicated to protecting the safety all residents in Galveston County and will work tirelessly to prosecute violent criminals.
Jennifer Ott believes the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office should be beyond reproach. There should never be a question as to what their ethical responsibility is to the Office and more importantly, the community and those involved in the legal system. When others see leaders making ethical decisions being transparent they are more likely to follow suit. The community, whether it is the citizens, law enforcement, victims, or defendants should never have to question whether the District Attorney’s Office is doing the right thing.
