RNHA Interviews Juan Tijerina for Hiladgo DA

Tonight I interviewed Juan Tijerina the Republican candidate for Hidalgo County DA. 

What is your background?

Juan A. Tijerina was born and raised in Edinburg, Texas. He is a graduate of UT-Pan American (UTPA) with a dual bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Political Science. He also received a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from UTPA. Mr. Tijerina worked for Tropical Texas as a case worker and then as an on-call clinician for their crisis intervention unit. He has served as an adjunct instructor at STC in their Psychology Department.

What got you interested in Politics?

I have never run for any position in politics. Not even in school for class president or anything like that. What got me interested in politics was this particular race. I feel that based on my prosecutorial experience I can do a better job in representing this county as their District Attorney.

What will your first 100 days in the office look like?

I am going to start my first 100 days in office by evaluating the organizational structure of the DA’s Office. It is important that during this transition we keep as many employees as possible. I have heard from my associates in the DA’s Office that morale is down and I want to incentivize as many of the employees in the DA’s office to stay on when I become District Attorney. I want to build a culture in the DA’s office that gives employees a greater sense of pride in their work. I also want to build strong relationships with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

How will you improve relations with Law Enforcement?

To improve relations with law enforcement, we must first gain their trust and improve communications between our departments. I will build confidence in Law Enforcement by following through with the cases they filed and prosecuting them.

How do you feel about Catch and Release?

I do not agree with catch and release in the majority of the cases I see. I do not believe that catch and release are effective because bonds are important to getting individuals to court.

How do you plan to address the growing corruption issues in Hildago County?

My goal is to establish a public integrity unit to investigate corruption in Hidalgo County. I can tell you that very little to nothing is being done at the state level about corruption cases. I want to deal with corruption at the local level with the assistance of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

How are you going to address the overcrowding in the Prison System?

There is overcrowding in Hildago county prisons. In fact, the county is spending millions of dollars to house inmates in other counties’ jails. One of the things that I can do to alleviate this as a prosecutor is by making bond recommendations to the defense and judges. In cases, where there are individuals who have committed no heinous crimes we can offer them a reasonable bond. That will ensure that they come to court and alleviate the overcrowding in the prisons.