Bill D. Hicks

Bill D. Hicks (Republican Party) was the El Paso County District Attorney in Texas. He assumed office on December 14, 2022. He left office on December 31, 2024.

Hicks (Republican Party) ran for re-election for El Paso County District Attorney in Texas. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Hicks completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Bill D. Hicks was born in Odessa, Texas. He earned a high school diploma from Odessa Permian High School. He also earned a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University in 1994 and a law degree from the Texas Tech School of Law in 1997. His career experience includes working as a district attorney, private practice lawyer, managing partner, judge of the 243rd Judicial District Court, Special Assistant United States Attorney, and assistant district attorney. Hicks has been affiliated with the following organizations:^[1]

Rotary Club of El Paso
Make A Wish (El Paso Chapter)
Child Crisis Center of El Paso
El Paso Bar Association
Texas Bar College
Texas Association of Trial Lawyers - Top 100

Elections

2024

General election

General election for El Paso County District Attorney

James Montoya defeated incumbent Bill D. Hicks in the general election for El Paso County District Attorney on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	James Montoya (D)	57.3	128,600
	Submit photo	Bill D. Hicks (R)	42.7	95,899

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 224,499
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for El Paso County District Attorney

James Montoya defeated Alma Trejo in the Democratic primary runoff for El Paso County District Attorney on May 28, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	James Montoya	52.0	12,622
	Submit photo	Alma Trejo	48.0	11,645

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,267
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for El Paso County District Attorney

James Montoya and Alma Trejo advanced to a runoff. They defeated Nancy Casas in the Democratic primary for El Paso County District Attorney on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	James Montoya	37.5	13,092
✔	Submit photo	Alma Trejo	35.5	12,408
	Submit photo	Nancy Casas	27.0	9,420

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 34,920
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for El Paso County District Attorney

Incumbent Bill D. Hicks advanced from the Republican primary for El Paso County District Attorney on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Bill D. Hicks	100.0	17,130

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,130
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Hicks in this election.

2012

Hicks ran for re-election to the 243rd District Court and was defeated by challenger Luis Aguilar.^[2]^[3]

See also: Texas judicial elections, 2012

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Bill D. Hicks completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hicks' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I took office to clean up the disaster that had been the administration of DA Yvonne Rosales who had beaten my current opponent for DA in the 2020 election when DA Jaime Esparza retired after 28 years in office. I began my legal career in 1998 as an Assistant District Attorney under DA Esparza, who promoted me to be a supervisor in 2008. I left the office in 2010 to be a State District Court Judge for a little over two years. I entered private practice in 2013 and stayed in El Paso, in private practice until 2022 when I was called upon to go back to the District Attorney's office to try to fix what DA Rosales had nearly destroyed in just two short years. I have been a supervisor, or supervised people for over 15 years and have been in charge of office budgets since 2010. My opponent has only been an attorney for 11 years and during that entire time, including at present, he has never had the responsibility of supervising a single person nor the responsibility of managing an office budget, yet he is asking to be put in charge of an office of 222 people and a combined budget of over $32 million dollars. I have worked VERY hard to bring this office back from the disaster that was the DA Rosales administration, but we are not done yet. The office still has a ways to go and in the hands of an inexperienced person, it can all fall apart quickly. This election is about experience and leadership. I have it and my opponent does not.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I have combined over 27 years experience as a state and federal prosecutor, former judge and private practice attorney that gives me the experience and wisdom to continue to lead this office into the future and to continue to build on the progress of the past two years. My opponent has only 11 years experience, all spent as a government attorney and never as a supervisor or manager. He is not ready to lead. Not only am I ready to lead, I am leading this office back from the disaster of the Rosales administration and into the future of stability and security for our community.
When I entered office, I had three main goals, those were: first to get the "Walmart case" back on track as the actions of the Rosales administration called into question the ability of the State to be able to prosecute the case; I announced "Ready for Trial" in December of 2023. Second, to resolve the backlog of over 14,000 cases sitting in the Intake Section; as of today that is now down to 520 cases! Third to resolve the manpower issue. When I started we had 63 attorneys. Today we have 75 attorneys, including those hired, but have not started yet and two job offers outstanding and a nearly full slate of staff members!
I am very proud of the public outreach that I have done as District Attorney that has never been done in this office. First, we reversed the trend of isolationism started by DA Rosales with regular press conferences making sure that my administration was open and transparent to the public. Second, we re-instituted beloved traditions like the "Reading of the Names" ceremony and the "Victim's Walk" from the Esparza administration. Third we started the "Justice for Juniors" initiative and "School Threats are No Joke" video being played in all school districts in an effort to reduce crime and empower victims.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Victim Rights really motivate me as the entire criminal justice system is set up and designed to protect the rights of the criminal defendant. This is not bad, after all, we want to make sure that we do not convict an innocent person, but in so doing, we loose sight of the fact that victims of crime are left with no voice in our criminal justice system. Were it not for the prosecutor, no one would ever stand up for the victim of a crime to say that they matter and what happened to them matters. It is important to me that victims of crime have a voice in the system and have their chance to speak and be heard.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Under Texas law, the District Attorney's office is the chief criminal law official in each of their districts. A District Attorney, me for example, does not answer, nor take directions from the Governor of Texas, nor the Attorney General of Texas. Only the people of his own district can "fire" the District Attorney. The Texas Attorney General does not have jurisdiction over any criminal cases anywhere in the State of Texas. He can come into a criminal case only when invited in by a District Attorney or County Attorney.

The District Attorney's office for the 34th Judicial District is unique in that it is the largest prosecutors office on the border in the United States. Our office is literally just over 10 blocks from the Republic of Mexico. With over 220 employees in the office, we are on the small side of the "large DA offices" in the state or the large side of the "medium DA offices" in the state. As DA, I speak with a great deal of presence on matters that confront our State regarding cross-border criminal issues.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

My Cousin Vinny says it all.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

The job of the District Attorney is defined under the law as being charged with see that justice is done in all cases. We are not charged with seeking convictions, but rather seeing that justice is done.

This is very important to understand because in order to understand what is "justice" in the broader scope, you have to have a good sense of honor and integrity. You have to have an ability to see the bigger picture of how the criminal justice system functions in our society at large. And, perhaps most importantly, you have to have an understanding of the individual and what the criminal justice means to the individual. The role of the prosecutor in seeking "justice" means to balance all of that against each other and then to come up with, as best as possible, what the appropriate outcome is in each case. We don't always get it right, but that is job, to get it right as much as and as often as we can, because that is our job.

My personal philosophy on the job is that you must have a two handed approach. With one hand, you have to be willing to bring the full weight of the criminal justice system down on someone who is a danger to society. You have to know when and how to do that. On the other hand, you have to know when and how to use your power to provide the helping hand to lift a person out of the criminal justice system who should not be there. For example, our military veteran that is suffering from PTSD and has an episode that lands them in a criminal court. Let's see if we can do better by helping that veteran recover, get a hold of their life and get out of the criminal justice system through an intense program that will result in no criminal sanction. Mental Health Specialty Courts; Drug and Alcohol Treatment Courts; even a Youthful Offender Specialty Court are all programs that I support to help people get out of the criminal justice system.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

A District Attorney of a large office (defined as over 200 employees), must be a person with experience in management and budgeting as well as criminal trial experience. The trial experience must be felony trial experience and must be substantial. With this background, the elected District Attorney must then lead the office with an understanding of how to manage a diverse group of individuals towards a defined goal. The District Attorney must be patient and humble. You have the responsibility to listen to the suggestions and comments of everyone in the office. You have responsibility to mentor not just attorneys, but all of your staff in what it means to be an honor driven individual of principle. You have the high responsibility to lead by example, without being judgmental of those that follow you. You have to be able to fall back on your experiences to be able to relate to the new attorneys to mentor them. You are the very top of the criminal justice pyramid for three counties; you are the top criminal justice office for three counties, and you must respect that position.
You must also be able to humbly work with other leaders in the community to find partners who will assist you as you move our criminal justice system forward. You have to listen and then act on what you hear from your partners. You have to respect those around you.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I have two legacies that I seek to leave. One, I have a son. My legacy is that my son will grow up to be a person of honor and integrity. My legacy will be that my son will leave this world a better place than he found it and that he will say that he learned that from me.

My second legacy is that long after I am gone, people will remember me as a person that made a positive difference in their lives. I only seek to make a difference, a positive difference in people's lives. If I have left this world a better place than the way that I found it, then my legacy will be complete.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

The public is unaware of the power of the Grand Jury. The District Attorney's office is in charge of typically three Grand Juries in El Paso county year round, and one Grand Jury each for Hudspeth and Culberson counties year round.

Grand Juries have the ability to issue subpoenas state wide which are confidential and cannot be refused. Grand Jury investigations are confidential. There exists the potential for abuse of this system. Granted, the abuse of this system, if proven, could result in felony charges for any and all involved, but the ability to abuse the system to gain confidential investigations in fellow citizens is staggering if left unchecked.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

I believe that it should be mandatory to have previous experience in government at a supervisory level of some sort. I do not believe it should be mandatory to hvae prior political experience, but it is certainly helpful for a person to understand the political gamesmanship that is involved when dealing with other departments as well as the Commissioner's Court and certainly when dealing with outside political entities like City Counsels and Mayors. As mentioned above, the District Attorney is the chief law enforcement official for the district and as such, you need to be able to work and play well with others. This takes a good political understanding of the world around you.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

A person needs to have trial skills, that is a starting place, but not the ending place. A person needs to have the maturity to understand the bigger picture and to keep a focus on the bigger picture, the goals and direction of the office even when the immediate is blowing up. A person needs to have a broad basis of experience to fall back on when making decisions and setting policy, not just for the office, but for our entire society. As District Attorney, you decide what cases will and will not be prosecuted and to what extent they will be prosecuted. You have to maintain a separation from the inclinations of your heart and the reasoning of your intelligence, and to have the maturity to know how to balance the two. Experience and leadership are a necessity to hold this office.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

I believe that transparency at all levels is the right of the people. We are public servants, which means that we are servants of the public.

There are a few caveats that are allowed under the law, for example when certain funds are held in reserve to settle a lawsuit, the amount of those funds should be held confidential in order to allow the attorneys for the government entity to negotiate the best possible outcome for the governmental entity. There are certain other well thought out exclusions, but in general, transparency is a key aspect of government.
This is not to say that I believe in the production of reports not already in existence. I do not believe that it is a good use of taxpayer money for me to task an employee to spend hours and hours of time to create reporting documents that do not exist in the regular course of business, nor are they documents that are created in the regular course of accounting for accounts. That then becomes a greater cost to the taxpayer just to satisfy some other governmental "reporting agency" mandate to monitor other governmental agencies and thus the bureaucratic feed-loop continues.

The public is welcome to all documents not currently in use in a prosecution and currently in existence, not otherwise protected for whatever reason (note: we will never release documents / photos of child or sexual abuse).

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Candidate

El Paso County District Attorney

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Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 17, 2024
↑ EPcounty.com, "Election Summary Report-2012 Nov. General Election," 2012
↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2012 General Election Summary," 2012 Select "2012 General Election"

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 17, 2024

[epcr-2] EPcounty.com, "Election Summary Report-2012 Nov. General Election," 2012

[3] Texas Secretary of State, "2012 General Election Summary," 2012 Select "2012 General Election"

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Bill D. Hicks

Contents

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for El Paso County District Attorney

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for El Paso County District Attorney

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for El Paso County District Attorney

Republican primary election

Republican primary for El Paso County District Attorney

Endorsements

2012

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

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