|
El Paso’s new county attorney will do double duty
November 17, 2009 |
Back |
November 17, 2009
El Paso’s new county attorney will do double duty
Jo Anne Bernal New Jo Anne Bernal, El Paso’s first female county attorney, says she plans to save the county money by not having a first assistant. That means Bernal will not be replacing herself. Bernal previously served as first assistant in the County Attorney’s Office, where she has been employed since October 1993. “The county of El Paso is experiencing a real budget crisis,” Bernal says, noting that a hiring freeze has been in effect for the past year. Bernal says she plans to perform her old duties as the first assistant as well as her new duties as county attorney. Elhiu Dominguez, public affairs officer for the County Attorney’s Office, says the El Paso County Commissioners Court voted 3-2 Monday to appoint Bernal to replace Jose R. Rodriguez, who announced Nov. 8 that he is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the District 29 seat in the Texas Senate. State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, announced in October that he would not be a candidate for re-election. Bernal says that 120th District Judge Maria Salas Mendoza administered the oath of office to her during a private ceremony Monday night in Bernal’s mother’s home. In a second ceremony today, 65th District Judge Yahara Lisa Gutierrez administered the oath of office to Bernal and to all the lawyers and investigators in the county attorney’s office. Bernal says she will be a candidate for county attorney in the March 2010 Democratic primary. Dominguez says Bernal’s appointed term expires in November 2010.
-- Mary Alice Robbins
|
| |
|
|
