Governor Abbott appointed District Attorney Bill Hicks to replace Rosales which came into effect Dec. 14, 2022. Photo courtesy of KVIA

December 2022, marked when former District Attorney Yvonne Rosales resigned from office, leaving before her term naturally concluded. Her term was plagued with controversial cases, including the Walmart shooting case and other cases. 

 According to KFOX 14 News, “She was criticized for her handling of the Walmart shooting trial and was accused of failing to prosecute hundreds of cases that ended up being dismissed.” 

Gov. Greg  Abbott appointed District Attorney Bill Hicks to replace Rosales, a decision which came into effect Dec. 14, 2022. Hicks is set to finish Rosales term by Dec. 31, 2024. According to the Office of Texas Governor, Hicks has previously worked as an Assistant District Attorney for the city of El Paso for the past 12 years, is an owner and attorney of his own firm, The Law Offices of Bill D. Hicks P.C., and is a member of the State Bar of Texas.  

“I was so gratified to know that the governor not only moved quickly but also picked somebody who is so qualified. I could not be more pleased,” said Hamilton in an interview with El Paso Inc. The first goal is to put the Crusius case back on track, that’s number one,” said Hicks to KFOX 14 News. “Number two goal is  we have got to address the backlog. The third goal which is to address the manpower issue.”  

These were the three main faults of Rosales’ administration, particularly the number of cases left to mistrial brought the most mistrust and bad press to the office of district attorney. Hicks has made its central goal to rectify these faults, with Gov. Abbott steadily watching on the side; it was his appointment, following the governor’s election, which has now set the future of the state and city in motion.  

Time will tell whether the Hicks’ administration will go down smoothly as he tries to jumpstart the ailing attorney’s office and clean up the leftover cases from the Rosales administration. 

It seems the consensus with the Law community in El Paso was very dissatisfied with the Rosales administration and it will take some time before the climate changes in the community.

 Hicks has a big task ahead of him to fix not only the reputation of the office, but hopefully bring some peace and justice to the cases in need of prosecution.  

Eugenio Cantu is a contributor and may be reached at [email protected].