Rene R. Munoz hired as new Assistant District Attorney

By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

293rd Judicial District Attorney Roberto Serna announced that Rene R. Munoz has been hired as a new Assistant District Attorney in the three county-Dimmit, Maverick & Zavala-293rd Judicial District through the State of Texas Border Prosecution Grant Program under the auspices of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Assistant District Attorney Rene R. Munoz was formally introduced to Maverick County Commissioners Court at their meeting held on December 1, 2014. Accompanying Munoz was Eloy Garcia, Chief Investigator of the 293rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo opened the agenda item for discussion and asked Garcia that it was Commissioners Court understanding that a request for waiving the orientation period of Mr. Munoz be granted.   “Yes, if possible, your Honor. He is getting fully funded by the grant at no cost to the County,” said Garcia.

Commissioners Court agreed and unanimously approved the hiring of Mr. Rene R. Munoz as the Border Protection Unit Grant Assistant District Attorney for the 293rd’s Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Garcia introduced Mr. Rene R. Munoz to Commissioners Court and the public.

Munoz thanked Commissioners Court for their vote of confidence and approval. “I am looking forward to working with the District Attorney and ensuring that justice is served and bettering the community at the same time,” said Munoz.

Munoz joins a growing and bustling 293rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office through a grant under the Border Prosecution Unit established in 2009 by the Texas Department of Public Safety. This grant will pay for Munoz’s salary and his hire will not cost the County of Maverick a single cent as it is covered under the grant established by the Border Prosecution Unit Program.

The Border Prosecution Unit, or “BPU” as it has come to be known, is a history-making initiative involving the Texas Department of Public Safety and each of the district attorneys in the border jurisdictions of Texas. Stretching from El Paso to Brownsville and covering forty-nine counties along and adjacent to the Rio Grande, the BPU encompasses a network of seventeen Texas district attorney offices, including the 293rd Judicial District. In each of these offices, an assistant district attorney is assigned to handle a specialized caseload of border crime cases.

The genius of the BPU program is the close collaboration, communication and coordination it has promoted between state prosecutors and the Texas Department of Public Safety. BPU lawyers work with their DPS counterparts on a daily basis to identify and disrupt the criminal organizations operating in our border region. In addition to the assistant district attorneys working in each of the 17 jurisdictions, a regional attorney is assigned and housed in the DPS offices in each of the three BPU regions.