Lupe Valdez
Encyclopedia
Lupe Valdez is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 law enforcement official and the Sheriff of Dallas County, Texas
Dallas County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...

. She is Texas's only elected female sheriff, as well as being the only openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

 lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

 holder of that office.

Early life

Born to migrant farm worker parents, she was raised in San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

 as one of eight children. She started life working in the fields, but paid her way through college, earning a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in Business Administration. She then earned a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington is a public research university located in Arlington, Texas, United States. The campus is situated southwest of downtown Arlington, and is located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. The university was founded in 1895 and served primarily a military...

.

Career

Prior to entering law enforcement, Lupe Valdez was an officer in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

. During her time in the Army, she attained the rank of Captain.

Her law enforcement career began as a jailer, first in a county jail and then a federal prison. She then moved on to investigative roles as an agent of the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...

, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

 and, finally, the U.S. Customs Service
United States Customs Service
Until March 2003, the United States Customs Service was an agency of the U.S. federal government that collected import tariffs and performed other selected border security duties.Before it was rolled into form part of the U.S...

 where she was a leader in the federal Counter Smuggling Initiative. With the creation of the Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...

 in 2002, she was made a Senior Agent, serving in that role until her retirement in 2004. In January 2004, Lupe Valdez retired to run for the office of Dallas County Sheriff.

Election as Sheriff

On January 2, 2004, Lupe Valdez announced her candidacy for the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 nomination for Dallas County Sheriff. During the primary election, she faced three opponents, and finished as the highest vote-getter with 13,867 votes. She subsequently won a run-off election against future Dallas County Judge Jim Foster. Valdez won 73% of the vote in the run-off.

As she entered the general campaign, Valdez was widely considered the underdog in her general election race against Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Danny Chandler. Chandler, a 30-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department, had defeated incumbent Sheriff Jim Bowles in the Republican primary. Bowles, who was tainted by corruption allegations, had held the office for 20 years.

The general election saw Valdez beat Chandler by 51.3% to 48.7% - a margin of some 18,000 votes. The election, combined with the fact that Valdez is female, Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...

 and a lesbian, made national headlines and was even reported overseas.

As an openly gay candidate for public office, Valdez's campaign won the backing of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBT public officials in US political life.The Victory Fund was founded in 1991...

. She was sworn in on January 1, 2005.

Valdez formerly attended the Cathedral of Hope
Cathedral of Hope (Dallas)
The Cathedral of Hope is a predominantly LGBT congregation located in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas, Texas . The Dallas Cathedral of Hope is said to be the world's largest inclusive "liberal Christian church with a primary outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons", with a...

 of Greater Dallas.

Upon taking office as Dallas County Sheriff, Valdez faced a department that was wracked by poor morale, tainted by allegations of corruption and marred by the fact that the Dallas County Jail had begun failing state and federal inspections prior to her election. The jail had failed inspections because of poor sanitation conditions which endanger prisoners, many of whom have not ultimately been found to be guilty of any crime and are merely being held pending being formally charged or, released; a failing smoke evacuation system, unacceptable medical care, and a lack of sufficient guards to meet the legally-required guard-to-inmate ratio.

Although the Dallas County Jail had begun failing state and federal inspections prior to Valdez being elected to office, the jail continued to fail inspections every year thereafter until 2010, when the jail passed certification by the State of Texas for the first time since 2003.

2008 Re-election

Valdez formally filed for re-election to a second term on December 3, 2007. She faced criticism from her opponents and the Dallas Morning News.

Valdez won the 2008 primary, narrowly avoiding a runoff by winning 50.85% in a four-candidate field on March 4, 2008.

On November 4, 2008, Lupe Valdez was re-elected Sheriff of Dallas County with 388,327 votes to Lowell Cannaday's 322,808 votes, a margin of roughly 65,500. Valdez received over 99,000 more votes than the "Straight Democratic" option. She won in precincts across Dallas County, including formerly-Republican areas including Valley Ranch in Irving and Mesquite. Her opponent won most precincts in far North Dallas, Richardson, Coppell, and the southern part of Irving. She began her second four-year term on January 1, 2009.

Sheriff Valdez has not yet made public her intentions regarding seeking re-election in 2012, but is considered likely to do so.

Controversy

Valdez's tenure has been marked by a number of controversies.

Areas of criticism in the press have included:
  • Allegedly poor communications inside the department, with county officials, and with the press.
  • Dallas County jails still failing state inspections, though with improving levels of compliance at least partly due to Dallas County spending "millions" to improve sanitation and jail health.
  • Declining arrest rates for driving while intoxicated and alleged disproportionate DWI arrests of Hispanics.
  • High levels of overtime.
  • Using trainee jail guards in the jails.
  • Taking 2 years to successfully pass her Texas Peace Officer Certification examination after being elected.
  • Engaging in campaign activities while in uniform. However, according to state law in Texas, it is not illegal for elected law enforcement officers, including sheriffs and constables, to campaign in their uniform.
  • Grant applications management controversies.
  • Failing to update promotion lists via testing, and promoting some staff without currently valid lists.
  • Allowing some deputies to use take-home cars outside county Commissioners' Court
    Commissioners' Court
    Commissioners' Court is the governing body of county government in several US states, including Texas and Missouri. It is similar in function to a board of county commissioners....

    -approved guidelines.
  • Violating "long-standing policy" in Dallas County, which was upheld by a state district judge, by authorizing the Discovery Channel
    Discovery Channel
    Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

     to film a documentary without gaining required Commissioner Court permission. This prompted the Commissioners Court to unanimously seek (and ultimately get) a restraining order against the Sheriff. The Dallas Morning News editorial board criticized the Sheriff's handling of the matter: "the positive publicity from finally meeting state standards would have been superior to that of a cable documentary and an unnecessary fight with those who hold her purse strings." The legal costs to the county could be as high as $11,000.
  • Average freeway wreck clearing time has increased from 16 minutes in 2004 to 45 minutes in 2007.
  • Eliminating patrol officers and moving all of them to freeway patrols for a goal of "boosting ticket revenue".

External links

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