Saenz has been practicing law for almost 12 years, mostly as a prosecutor with the Bexar County District Attorney’s office. She began her career as a defense attorney. As a first chair felony prosecutor, Saenz handles violent crime cases and supervises other attorneys.
Hear from the candidate
Why should voters choose you?
Voters should choose me because I want to help Bexar County and the people in it. I do not come from a family of attorneys or politicians. I am the proud daughter of a housekeeper and X-ray machine repairman. I grew up in a lower economic area of San Antonio where not many people go on to higher education. I understand the daily struggles the average person faces because I, and my family, have lived them. My career has taught me that crime doesn’t just affect the arrested person, it affects their family. Once an individual gets a conviction on their record it traps them in a box and begins, or continues, a cycle of poverty. A conviction limits a person’s ability to get higher paying jobs, prevents them from getting financial aid, and under certain circumstances, can even prevent them from getting public housing. Bexar County Court at Law No. 2 is a criminal misdemeanor court. This court handles cases like a first time DWI, criminal trespass and assaults with minor injury. The majority of the cases in County Court No. 2 are nonviolent. As a result, we need to be working on rehabilitative approaches for offenders rather than just straight incarceration. Having handled violent crime for the majority of my career, I know the balance needed to keep our community safe and help people succeed so they don’t come back into the court system.
What do you see as the top challenge facing our local court system, and how should it be addressed?
Having worked as a criminal lawyer for the last 11 years, I know there are problems that need to be tackled in the criminal justice system. One of the biggest problems I see is the need for bail reform. Changes in the bail system would reduce the jail population and prevent the criminalization of poverty. I support bail reform movements that take into account all aspects of the accused’s life when setting a monetary bond or when deciding if a personal recognizance bond is appropriate. As judge, I will not only take into account the accused’s income when setting a fair and reasonable bond but I will also look at the person’s age, whether they are a flight risk, whether the crime charged was violent, whether they have failed to appear on past cases, what their criminal history is like and whether it’s violent in nature, and whether they will have a positive environment to go back to while they await their court date. The goal is to set a bond that is fair and reasonable to that person.
