Isidro R. “Chilo” Alaniz has been the District Attorney for the 49th Judicial District of Texas since 2009. Born and raised in Laredo, Texas, Mr. Alaniz was licensed to practice law in the State of Texas in 1995 and received his board certification in criminal law since 2001. Beginning his 4th term unopposed, Mr. Alaniz has been able to modernize the DA’s office, improve prosecution techniques and skills, and increased legal protections for victims of domestic violence and child abuse. He has also been successful in prosecuting organized financial crimes and money laundering cases.
Mr. Alaniz has implemented initiatives such as “Make the Right Call Campaign” aimed at deterring drunk driving, adopting “Huggy the Bear” the office mascot, to promote a campaign against drugs to elementary school children. Mr. Alaniz also established The Webb County Better Community Foundation that provides service to the community in areas of education, mental health and overall wellness programs and the Freedom Riders Foundation that provides therapeutic equestrian sessions for victims of domestic violence. He is active in professional and community activities by regularly speaking at local schools, civic organizations and conferences. Mr. Alaniz was most recently awarded the Volunteer of the Year by Volunteers serving the Needs for his work with veterans. This award highlighted his great appreciation for service men and women of this country. In 2013, he presented “Rejection, Rage and Revenge,” a case study of the murder of baby Katherine Cardenas, at the Crimes against Children Conference in Dallas, TX.
Understanding the need to bring all agencies together for a more effective prosecution, he has established strong ties with the following agencies by embedding DA Criminal Investigators in the task forces of the USM, DEA, and FBI. These partnerships with local, state and federal agencies has resulted in incremental annual decreases in the crime rate since 2009. In 2016, Mr. Alaniz was awarded the Administrator’s Award by the DEA in Washington D.C. He also served as a TDCAA Board member, is an active Border Prosecution Unit executive committee member and just completed a term as a member of the Children’s Justice Act Task Force. In addition to these activities, he is active in the courtroom and personally prosecuted 2 capital murder cases and currently lead counsel on 3 pending death penalty cases. His prosecutorial philosophy is to be tough but fair.
