Christina Sanchez started her career in public service as a legal intern for the El Paso County Attorney's Office — 16 years later, she is living her dream of running the office.
"This is an honor of a lifetime," Sanchez said. "It does not get lost on me that the people of El Paso elected me to do this job. It is my intent to do the best job that I can. I am born and raised here in El Paso County. My entire legal career has been in the county attorney's office providing public service. This is really a dream job. A dream come true and I will not let this community down."
Sanchez was officially sworn in as the new El Paso County Attorney in mid-June at the El Paso County Ceremonial Courtroom at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso.
The swearing-in ceremony was held hours after the El Paso County Commissioners Court voted 5-0 to appoint her to the position to immediately take over for Jo Anne Bernal, who retired from the seat.
Sanchez was already elected in the March Democratic Party primary election with more than 69% of the votes and is facing no Republican challenger in the November General Election. She was set to take over the office in January, but the Commissioners Court vote allowed Sanchez to begin her work early.
"There are big shoes to fill with Jo Anne's departure, but I know that you are up to the challenge and to the task," El Paso County Commissioner David Stout said before the Commissioners Court's vote. "I know you will lead us into the future in a fierce and fearless manner. I'm just so happy that we're able to get you in even earlier. The voters spoke quite effusively and elected you by a very, very big margin."
The County Attorney's Office oversees various legal services, including juvenile crime, child and elder abuse, mental health, protective orders and family violence. It also enforces state and county environmental and health laws. The office oversees both civil and criminal litigation.
The office also provides civil legal defense for El Paso County government officials.
The office has a budget of more than $11 million, according to the 2024 El Paso County Annual Operating Budget. Sanchez will oversee a staff of about 100 people. The county attorney was paid $226,534 in the 2024 fiscal year. However, Sanchez's salary has not been released. The county attorney serves four-year terms.
El Pasoan dedicated to serving her hometown
The passion for El Paso was visible as Sanchez talked about her desire to serve her hometown.
"I love El Paso and I am just grateful I have been able to serve my community throughout my career in the County Attorney's Office," she said, " And now I am going to work hard to be a county attorney that El Paso can be proud of."
Sanchez graduated from Burges High School in 1997. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in political science from George Washington University in 2001 and her law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2007.
She began her career with the El Paso County Attorney's Office as a legal intern in 2007. After graduating from Texas Tech School of Law, she was hired as an assistant county attorney.
"At that time, the county and a lot of our governmental entities were in turmoil over widespread public corruption issues that were going on throughout county government, city government and at our school districts," Sanchez said. "When I started as a legal intern, one of the first jobs was jumping right in and doing the legal research on those issues and what it meant for the county."
Seeing firsthand what corruption had done to her city and the distrust of elected officials, Sanchez knew what she wanted to do with her career. She decided to take action to hold elected officials accountable and ensure the citizens of El Paso were represented with honor and integrity.
"It has always sparked my interest because for me it was always about ensuring that our elected officials had the community's interest in mind and then it was just, 'how did we get here?'" Sanchez said about the corruption scandals. "It wasn't about sitting out and complaining and just being a bystander. It was 'how was I going to make a difference to that?' That had always stuck with me and I knew that I could build a career in the county's attorney's office to ensure the county government continued on a good path and good representation for the constituents of this community."
She worked in various departments in the county attorney's office to learn as much as possible about each unit. She has worked in multiple positions for the County Attorney's Office, including division chief for the Commissioners Court Unit.
Sanchez became senior division chief for the El Paso County Commissioners Court and the Public Works Unit, her last position before taking over the office from her mentor.
"She's ready to lead," said Bernal, who served as county attorney for 15 years. "She was ready to lead on day one. I, along with the rest of the community, look forward to watching her to see what her plan is and how she executes her vision."
"I know that first and foremost for Christina and her team will be focused on the protection, safety and wellbeing of the El Paso community. It's important for El Pasoans to know they're in very good hands."
Future of El Paso County Attorney's Office
Sanchez is the first of several new law enforcement leaders who have or will take over their office from a longtime incumbent leaving office.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office will have a new sheriff as two candidates vie for the seat in the November General Election. The El Paso District Attorney's Office, which has already seen a change of leadership before the elections, could have a new district attorney as incumbent Bill Hicks, a Republican, is facing off against James Montoya, a Democrat, in the Nov. 5 election.
The El Paso Police Department, FBI El Paso and DEA El Paso have leaders in charge for less than two years.
"That is one of the reasons I am happy to be appointed early," Sanchez said. "Our office will be prepared to meet with all the new leaders and discuss how we can work together to better serve your community. It is important to have cooperation between agencies and I look forward to working with all our partners."
The County Attorney's Office has been one of the most efficient and well-respected offices in El Paso government for more than two decades. Sanchez's goal is to keep it that way.
"County Attorney Bernal had been with the County Attorney's Office for over 30 years," Sanchez said. "She has really built a legacy of ensuring that individuals that needed our services were treated with dignity and compassion. She left a very impressionable mark not only in the County Attorney's Office and county government, but in this entire community."
"My job is to ensure that we are equipped and ready to handle those new issues that come our way. Right now, it is making sure that there is continuity in the office. That the legal services stay the same, that we do not miss the step.”
One significant objective Sanchez plans to undertake is making it easier for victims of family violence to find all the help they need through the County Attorney's Office.
"A long-term project that I am so interested in doing for the County Attorney's Office would be to build a one-stop shop for victims of family violence," Sanchez said. "Right now, we do provide protective order services for individuals that come in and that do qualify. But what we've also learned is those individuals need further assistance, whether it's in seeking how they can be financially independent from the household that they are in that causes them to stay in that type of relationship, either for themselves or for their family."
"So, building a social network, if you will, around that for those individuals that are coming so they're not having to be referred to five or six different areas. That's a huge project. We've seen models in other communities throughout Texas but that's something that I'd like to hopefully start and implement within this first term."
Sanchez is grateful for the confidence voters showed in her by overwhelmingly voting for her to be the new county attorney.
“My message to the community is, thank you very much for entrusting me with your vote,” Sanchez said. “I look forward to meeting and working with you. I will be out in the community making myself known and making the services in our office known. We have a good office with good people with public service in mind. I'm just very excited to meet everybody out in the El Paso community.”
Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
Most Popular
Comments / 0