El Paso County District Attorney candidate: Alma Trejo
El Paso County District Attorney candidate
Alma Trejo - D
Age: 59
Please describe your personal and professional background.
Like many El Pasoans, I am a first generation American. My father and his brothers came to the US to work in agriculture as braceros. After moving around for several years, we settled down in Fabens and I attended school and worked as a waitress at a local diner during my high school and college years. My parents still reside in Fabens.
I am the proud mother of a high school senior at EPHS. I was involved in school organizations during her school years.
I started as an intern at the County Attorney’s Office and eventually became a misdemeanor prosecutor. I started as a felony prosecutor at the District Attorney’s Office and was promoted to Chief of a felony trial team and later promoted to Chief of the Rape and Child Abuse Unit. I tried at least 80 felony jury trials including sexual assault cases, murder cases, capital murder cases and a death penalty case.
In 2002, I was elected as the Judge of County Criminal Court at Law #1 and remained on the bench until September 30, 2023. I presided over hundreds of misdemeanors jury trials during my time as a Judge.
I was elected as the Local Administrative Judge for the Council of Judges in 2015 and served in that capacity for 4 years. In 2021, I was appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Hecht to serve on the Judicial Advisory Council, I am still serving as a board member. I also served on the El Paso Juvenile Probation Board for approximately 15 years.
How do you earn a living? Do you plan to continue if elected?
I resigned as the presiding judge of County Criminal Court #1, pursuant to state law, to run for the office of District Attorney. I plan to go back to work after my daughter goes off to college this fall. My employment will be determined by the election.
Please describe your education. Where did you get your high school diploma? What higher education degrees and certificates have you earned from where?
After graduating from Fabens High School, I obtained my Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from UTEP and my Doctor of Jurisprudence from Texas Tech School of Law.
What experiences in leadership do you have that qualify you for this position?
I was elected as Local Administrative Judge (LAJ) of the Council of Judges for 4 years. One of my first duties included repairing the County’s Indigent Defense Plan after failing an audit conducted by the Texas Indigent Defense Commission. I wrote the County’s response and established our current Indigent Defense system and procedures that complied with the Fair Defense Act.
As the LAJ, I managed our $6 million budget for 40 courts and 200 court employees, handled HR matters, handled the hiring and firing of employees, established a performance metric team, addressed court backlogs, implemented court paperless procedures, updated court practices to comply with changing statutes, helped create the Jail Magistrate Court and collaborated with other county and community partners to address court issues. I met all these administrative responsibilities while still handing all my responsibilities in my court.
Have you ever been arrested or charged with a crime? Have you ever had a civil judgment against you? Have you ever been in arrears on local, state or federal taxes? If so, please provide an explanation.
No.
If elected, would you have any potential conflicts of interest that you are aware of that would impair your ability to serve? Please explain what they are and how you would avoid the conflict.
My brother is employed by EPPD as a detective, I am not sure if that would qualify as a conflict. That was a conflict when I served as a judge, I will inquire with the appropriate agencies to determine if a conflict exists.
What does transparent government mean to you? Will you be personally accessible to answer questions while in office?
The District Attorney has a responsibility to keep the public appraised of what the office is doing to keep El Paso safe. As I stated early in the campaign, I am committed to posting case data metrics on the website, the public should know how many capital murders, murders, sexual assaults, DWIs and other case types are pending in the office and the results of our jury trials.
I plan to be available to the press and to community organizations. I would like to also set up town hall meetings in different parts of town to talk to discuss community issues.
Issue related questions
What do you feel are the largest challenges facing the El Paso District Attorney’s Office? As District Attorney, what would you do to address those challenges?
The biggest challenge facing the DA’s office is the shortage of attorneys. This shortage has caused a backlog of pending cases. During the last three years as a Judge, I had to reduce the number of hearings and trials by half since I only had 1 prosecutor assigned to the court instead of the 2 prosecutors normally assigned to each court under the Jaime Esparza administration. It is my understanding that 24 attorneys have left the office in 1 year due to low morale.
I would read the exit interviews of the attorneys who have left in the past 4 years to avoid the same problems. I would offer part-time employment in addition to full time employment and would allow remote employment, when possible, to improve morale.
I would also send recruitment teams to our Texas law schools in hopes of attracting soon to be lawyers. I would build a work environment that appreciates our employees and keeps them happy. I have a good reputation among the legal field, and I know I can attract enough attorneys to establish a fully staffed office again.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I have vast trial experience as well as managerial experience. I can make decisions on day one. I have experience with budgets, employee matters, best practices and collaboration with others. I am a problem solver who focuses on solving the issue not playing the blame game.
I am the only candidate in the democratic primary with death penalty experience.
My main motivation for running for this position is to make El Paso safe for my daughter, nieces and for all our families. I have the skill set required to lead and transform the DA’s office with 170 employees and a $20 million budget.
What are your top three priorities?
My three priorities include the Walmart case, the attorney shortage and the backlog of murder cases. On the first day in office, I would meet with the Walmart case lawyers to find out the status of the case and figure out how soon we can try this case. I would also meet with the families of the Walmart case to give them an update of the case.
The answers to question 8 details how I plan to address the attorney shortage problem.
There are currently 80 murder cases and 35 capital murder cases pending in the office, some cases as old as 6 years. In the first month, we would assign all these cases to two person teams so that the cases can be worked on. All lawyers in the office would be included in these assignments. Once a case is ready, we would ask the court for a hearing date to proceed to trial, if necessary.
What role does the district attorney play? Is it more administrative position or litigation position?
The role of the DA is 95% administrative and 5% litigation, especially when the office needs to be rebuilt. Having said that, a DA needs to have vast litigation experience, especially in death penalty cases, murder cases and sexual assault cases since the DA makes the ultimate decision in these types of cases.
The DA is responsible for making sure the budget incorporates enough attorneys and staff to handle all the cases in 8 misdemeanor courts and 11 felony courts. If more personnel are needed, the DA must ask commissioners court for more positions and be able to justify these new positions with data. The DA is also responsible for all HR matters such as hiring, firing and employee grievances. Making sure your attorneys are properly trained and supervised is also another duty of the DA. The DA hires an administrative team for them to carry out the office’s priorities.
The DA also sits on various committees with criminal justice partners and must collaborate with others.
What are your plans and strategies to address the large backlog of cases currently pending in the El Paso justice system? What types of cases would you prioritize?
I would run data reports to find out how many pending cases we have and the age of those pending cases. I would classify the cases by high priority vs low priority. I would ask the courts to set up “rocket docket” hearings for the low priority cases so we can quickly dispose of those cases, this will free up the lawyers to start working on the high priority cases such as murder, rapes, violent offenses, DWIs and assaults.
Murder cases would be assigned to all lawyers in the office to resolve those cases as soon as possible and everyone would learn to try a murder case.
The goal would be for each prosecutor to be sent a monthly dashboard detailing the age and classification of the pending cases so that he/she can concentrate on the high priority cases and quickly resolve the low priority cases.
How do you plan to handle low level misdemeanors such as marijuana possession?
The County Courts implemented a cite and release program for misdemeanor marijuana cases, I would continue this program to avoid criminalizing our youth and save taxpayer money.
Do you plan on continuing to seek the death penalty against the El Paso Walmart mass shooter?
I would say yes for now. I would need to examine the penalty phase evidence and determine if we have the evidence to meet our burden and obtain the death penalty. I would also talk to the US Attorney’s office to find out why they didn’t seek the death penalty in the federal case. I would also find out if he is going to serve out his federal sentence first even if he is given a death sentence on the state charges.
I doubt we can find enough El Paso jurors who have not made up their mind as to his guilt, therefore this case will need to be tried in another county.
As a steward of taxpayer money, I would need to make sure we have the evidence required to obtain a death sentence. I would speak to the victims before deciding on whether to proceed to trial in another county to seek the death penalty or allow him to plead to life sentences.
A number of El Paso Police officers where recently arrested on criminal charges; how should these cases be handled? Would you be open to plea agreements that result in reduced charges?
These cases should be evaluated and handled in the same manner as any other case. The case may proceed to trial, to a guilty plea or even a dismissal depending on the evidence and strength of the case. If the evidence merits a reduction of charges, that is how the case will be handled.
How can the District Attorney’s Office address border crime? How important is building relationships with law enforcement?
All cases presented by law enforcement will be evaluated and prioritized on a case-by-case basis. I would start a dialogue with law enforcement, Commissioners Court, Public Defender’s office and other agencies to determine if we have the resources to prosecute SB4 offenses if the statute is determined to be constitutional by the courts.
Trust and open communication between prosecutors and law enforcement is necessary. I would initiate quarterly meetings between all law enforcement agencies and our office to address any issues.
What must be done to regain the El Paso community’s trust after the resignation of former District Attorney Yvonne Rosales?
The resolution of the Walmart case is one step toward regaining the community’s confidence again. Transparency through a website, media presses and town hall meetings will also help regain people’s confidence. Once the community hears that the office is fully staffed again and the backlog of cases is being addressed, I have no doubt the public will start trusting the DA’s office again.
The candidates' responses are being published largely as they were submitted.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso County District Attorney candidate: Alma Trejo
