MELISSA SAENZ FOR
BEXAR COUNTY COURT AT LAW #2

I, Melissa Saenz, am your Democratic Nominee for Bexar County Court at Law #2 this November. I have been serving the great people of Bexar County as a Prosecutor at the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office for over a decade and have had the opportunity to work under several District Attorneys including, Judge Susan Reed, Nico LaHood, and our current DA Joe Gonzales.

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As a Prosecutor, I have tried and handled numerous cases like DWIs, Physical and Sexual Crimes Against Children, and Murder cases. I have spent more than half my career handling violent crime and seeing how it effects on our community. I am running for Judge of Bexar County Court #2 because I believe that's where I can make the most change. The majority of misdemeanor crimes are non-violent. They include offenses like Criminal Trespass, Thefts, DWI, and assaults where there are minor injuries. I believe in taking more of a rehabilitative approach to these kinds of offenses in order to help people succeed; I want to address the issues that brought them into the system so they don't come back and don't become a violent offender in the future. I want to keep our community safe and help people become a more productive member of our society. 

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Education

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I am a proud graduate of Southwest High School. I graduated in the top 10% of my class and enrolled at the University of Texas at San Antonio to pursue a Bachelors Degree in Political Science. During this time, I started taking legal classes like Constitutional Law, Business Law, and Racketeering and Corruption. These classes sparked an interest in the law for me and opened my eyes to possibilities of becoming a lawyer. As I continued my education at UTSA, I also began to take an interest in Womens Law and completed my Honors Thesis entitled: The Privileges and Immunities Clause and Its Implications on Women's Rights. 

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After graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2007, I went on to pursue my law degree at the Texas Tech School of Law in Lubbock, Texas. Moving to west Texas for school was a bit of a culture shock. Roughly ten percent of the students in my law school were Latino. The city itself also lacked diversity. It was at that time that I began to realize the number of Latinos. especially women, were underrepresented in the legal field. During law school, I tried to take advantage of different opportunities that would help me decide what type of law I wanted to practice. I interned in San Antonio with the Civil Division of the City Attorney's Office and later with Judge Xavier Rodriguez at the Federal Courthouse learning civil and criminal law. During my last year of law school, I obtained a Student Bar Card and began handling divorces cases that came to us through legal aid.

 

Upbringing

 

I grew up in the Southwest Independent School District and am the proud daughter of a Housekeeper and X-Ray repairman. I do not come from a family of attorneys or politicians. Instead, I am the first person in my family to become an attorney. I understand the struggles that most families in our community go through because growing up I saw my parents struggle financially to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads. I was taught by my parents to work hard for what you want and I have continued to carry that work ethic throughout my career.

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Career

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Shortly after receiving my law license, I started working as a Prosecutor at the Bexar County District Attorney's Office. After three and half years as Prosecutor, I decided to work as a Criminal Defense Attorney. Working in both capacities taught me that there needs to be a better balance in how cases should be handled in the Criminal Court System. The jail is for violent and dangerous people but for non-violent offenders we need to try to address the issues that brought them into the court system. Regardless of whether it's mental health, substance abuse or something else, we as the Court System need to address these issues to keep our community safe and stop people from re-offending. 

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I went back to work as a Prosecutor at the Bexar County District Attorney's Office in 2015 and have since worked my up to be a Felony First Chair which is the highest position you can be in aside from a Division Chief. I am especially proud of this accomplishment because I am one of two Latinas that encompass First Chair positions at the office.

 

Belief System

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- Everyone who comes into the Court System should be treated fairly and with respect

- No one is above the law

- An individual's rights should be protected and the law should be followed

- Do what's right 

 

 

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