Guerra appointee raises question

RAYMONDVILLE — State officials are seeking a legal opinion to determine whether Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra has the authority to appoint investigators who aren’t certified as police officers, an official said Wednesday.

Guerra’s staff includes Texas’ only DA investigators who lack state certification, said Tim Braaten, executive director of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

“We have no instances of this in the state,” Braaten said.

But Guerra said state law allows him to appoint investigators without certification because they don’t perform the work of police officers.

Braaten said he’s awaiting a state Attorney General’s opinion to determine whether district attorneys can appoint investigators who are not certified as peace officers.

“If the district attorney says ‘I don’t have to license them,’ we disagree with that,” Braaten said. “He thinks he has the authority to appoint these people. We’ve listened to their rational, but we disagree.”

Guerra said investigator Roy Tamez has registered to attend a police academy in October, the first step toward state certification.

“He’s met with (the agency) to see what he needed to do in order to be a certified police officer,” Guerra said of Tamez, who’s a state-certified jailer.

In July, an agency field officer learned that Guerra had appointed investigators who lacked state certification, Braaten said.

But Guerra said he asked the agency to determine whether certification as peace officers was required of his investigators.

Guerra said his investigators don’t perform police work such as making arrests, which exempts them from certification.

Tamez investigates and reviews cases, while investigator Marte Guillen works as a legal researcher, Guerra said. Neither carries a gun; only Tamez carries a badge that identifies him as an investigator for the District Attorney’s Office, Guerra said.

To become certified as peace officers, candidates must earn at least 618 hours at a police academy, Braaten said. Within 180 days of completion, candidates must pass a state examination, and then must pass criminal background checks, he said.

If the agency finds state law requires district attorneys’ investigators to be certified as peace officers, the agency will request that Guerra ask his investigators to become certified, Braaton said.

Guerra said Tamez will complete requirements to become certified as a police officer.