Q&A: Hays County criminal district attorney candidates

Q&A: Hays County criminal district attorney candidates Q&A: Hays County criminal district attorney candidates Sidney Orman and Aaron Dann October 14, 2026 Categories: Elections Features News The Hays County Criminal District Attorney’s Office works to ensure that justice is served through legal action within the county’s criminal justice system. Kelly Higgins is the current district attorney, but is not running for reelection Candidate answers may have been minimally edited or cut for style and clarity. Photo Courtesy of Alfonso Salazar Alfonso Salazar (DEM) What do you see as the biggest issue facing the Hays County District Attorney’s Office right now, and what specifically would you do differently? “The DA’s office right now, in my opinion, just needs some new leadership, so that we can direct where we’re supposed to have our attention set at, and make sure that we are looking for justice in the community that reflects the community … We have two issues that are happening right now that I want to spearhead. Our juveniles: our children are getting in trouble a lot now, and on two polar spectrums. We’re starting with kids being kids. They are going to skip school, they’re going to vape and do some graffiti. But then on the other side of things, we see high level felonies. … The other side of that is individuals with mental health issues. In our community, like in a lot of communities, people with mental health issues end up getting arrested, either due to being unhoused or having a flare up of whatever mental health condition they have, or just crimes of necessity. The criminal justice system, as far as police and the jail, are not set up to deal with people like that.” What are the biggest challenges San Marcos is currently facing? “San Marcos specifically is going to be different because of the university. We’ve got not necessarily juveniles, but we’ve got 18 to 24 or 25 year olds that predominantly are in that area for college … We’ve been seeing a lot of gun violence on the square, and we just need to figure out, do we need a larger presence of law enforcement out there to make sure everybody’s safe and they’re having a good time on the square? Do we need to start making sure that the bars on the square are doing what they’re supposed to be doing? Are we monitoring what’s happening in the bars? Do you guys have the right security? Are you over serving individuals? Because a lot of things come with nightlife. It just is what it is. And while nightlife is huge on the square and it’s a big part of what happens in San Marcos, we just want to make sure everybody’s safe.” What would be your top priority if elected? “My number one top priority, if I’m elected in November, is to truly build a trust relationship between my office and the citizens of Hays County as a whole. Nationwide and statewide, and to a lesser extent locally, individuals do not trust their government anymore. A lot of it is because they don’t necessarily even know who the people are that are running.” Photo courtesy of Kirsta Melton Kirsta Melton (IND) What do you see as the biggest issue facing the Hays County District Attorney’s Office right now, and what specifically would you do differently? “One of the big issues for the next district attorney is being able to restore trust in the justice system by making sure that we treat everyone with dignity, with respect, that we both take care of victims, but at the same time we honor the rights of defendants. Because the ethical obligation of a prosecutor is to see that justice is done, and that’s really important.” What are the biggest challenges San Marcos is currently facing? “When we think about misinformation, all of this kind of swirling conspiracy theories, all the things that just get shunted around the via Social media, or frankly, poor reporting-that is one of the biggest problems that I would say San Marcos faces is trying to sort for the truth and understanding what that truth is. Part of your officials, whether that’s the county commissioners, whether that’s city council, whether that’s the district attorney, is making sure that we are communicating clearly with the public, making sure that the public has access to data so that they can hold us accountable as public servants.” What would be your top priority if elected? “The very first thing is making sure that the DA’s office is depoliticized in what it’s doing. If you’re paying attention to what’s happening nationwide, we have a politicization of the justice system, and instead of decisions being made based on the facts and the law, we have people making decisions based on people’s party politics, or based on people’s status or position, based on citizenship or lack of citizenship, based on people’s money, and my belief is that the justice system should have a single standard, one standard that applies to all of us in the same way.” 0 Like This Story Share on Facebook Share on X Email this Story Print this Story More to Discover More in Elections Q&A: Hays County Commissioners Court Precinct 4 candidates Q&A: Commissioner's Court Precinct 2 candidates Thousands of local voters placed on suspense list New districts set for Texas voters ahead of midterms Cohen advances to general election for County Judge Live 2026 primary run-off election updates More in Features Texas State community holds demonstration to stand with Jane Doe Austin City Limits Music Festival TXST couple retires after roughly decade of supporting student success Take your concerns to the ballot box Locking down the thrash metal scene: Local band releases first EP 'Cats look to get first conference win vs Colorado State More in News UPD investigates burglary, indecent assault at Cypress Breast cancer awareness is key to survival UPD searching for man accused of indecent exposure at the Meadows Center Scooter safety concerns arise at Texas State Rio Vista fencing, entry fees led to a cleaner park Housing enforces new security policy at Castro Hall