ELECTIONS
The Primary Election will have two democratic candidates on the ballot for the Hays County District Attorney race: Landon Bryan Campbell and Alfonso Salazar.
LANDON BRYAN CAMPBELL Campbell currently serves as a Division Chief in the Hays County District Attorney’s Office, overseeing programs in the Misdemeanor Courts and Diversion/ Specialty Courts. He hopes to bolster the Specialty Court Programs meant to divert those charged with a crime away from the jail. The Specialty Courts were started during his time at the DA’s Office, including the Mental Health Court, which, in three and a half years, has spawned other diversion programs like the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program and the soon-to-be DWI and Drug Court Program.
“We can use a lot of those successes to build on in different areas,” Campbell said. “For instance, our Mental Health Court has amazing results but has a cap of around 35 people, and that’s misdemeanor and felony defendants. So I think that investing in that and getting that opportunity for more people is a huge area for growth.”
Campbell would also like to focus on the prosecution of violent crime, particularly crimes against children. He said that in his time in the DA’s Office, a Family Justice Unit has been incorporated that focuses on violent crimes against children.
“I really want to be able to go forward, investing in these programs and use their success to create other programs and really focus on diversion and putting resources into violent crime prosecution,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the next DA is going to have a lot on their plate with the rate of population growth in the area in addition to community concerns about federal and state entity overreach.
“I really think that I’m the best person to be able to handle all of those different balls up in the air,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the job of the DA is not spending every day in a courtroom prosecuting cases but is coordinating between judges, law enforcement and Commissioners Court to ensure everyone in the criminal justice system is moving in compatible directions.
“I think that that role is something I’m uniquely situated to be able to help with. I already work with our law enforcement and our judges; they’ve all got my cell phone and use it to my spouse’s chagrin,” Campbell said. “Your elected DA is really the Facilitator-in-Chief, and that’s something I think that I’m particularly well suited to come into.”
Learn more at landonforhays. com.
ALFONSO SALAZAR Salazar went through the court system in his youth because he lost his sister to gun violence. He had negative encounters with law enforcement and was profiled while growing up, but when he joined the Air Force and became a military police officer, it showed him what it meant to be an effective member of law enforcement and the difference that could make. He later went to law school and began working under a licensed attorney in Williamson County.
“Given my law enforcement experience background, I was thrown into the Felony Division,” Salazar said. “Now I’m sitting there as the prosecutor — coming from law enforcement, coming from a victim of a crime — and the perspective of each one of those things was ingrained in how I made my decisions.”
He later set up his own practice and, over the last four years, has been focused on criminal defense and civil rights.
Salazar explained the Intake Division of the DA’s office, which is the first “legal eyes” that look at the case to see if the law was broken and if there is the necessary evidence to move forward. He is hoping to use the Intake Division as a way to repair the relationship between law enforcement and the community by ensuring the officer is doing their job correctly and not violating peoples’ rights. He said he would address the leadership of any officer not following the law, but that he would also lift up those officers that are doing a good job.
“I know we’re a negative kind of country that gets more likes for bad things on the internet and news stories,” Salazar said. “But if we can highlight some of the ones that do a good job, I think we can get closer to working together.”
Salazar said that some cases can be handled the minute they arrive at the Intake Division. He would like to defer people with mental health disorders or drug and/or alcohol use to the diversion courts such as the Mental Health Court and the DWI and Drug Court.
“I can try to divert those people to those courses and classes and programs early,” Salazar said. “Do I need to really charge them with everything and put them through the ringer? No. But do they need help? Yes, and if they’d like to accept it, we can have that there for them in a different category.”
Salazar said as DA, he may not be able to solve all problems, but he plans to be a bullhorn for the community and take those issues to other leaders for assistance in solving those problems.
Learn more at alfonso4haysda. com.
