Landon Campbell – Hays County Criminal District Attorney

Landon Campbell

 

What is your work history, including current employment? Please respond in a list format.

• Division Chief, Misdemeanor and Specialty Courts Division, Hays County Criminal District Attorney's Office
• Felony Prosecutor, Hays County Criminal District Attorney's Office
• Research Attorney, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
• Misdemeanor Prosecutor, Hays County Criminal District Attorney's Office
• Briefing Attorney, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
• Appellate Law Clerk, Travis County Attorney's Office
• Law Clerk, United States Attorney Office for the Western District of Texas
• Student Attorney, Travis County District Attorney's Office
• Student Attorney, UT Law Criminal Defense Clinic
• Judicial Intern, Chambers of Judge Scott Field, Third Court of Appeals
• Intern, Brazos County District Attorney's Office
  
  

What is your educational history, including degrees received, licenses, professional credentials, etc.? Please respond in a list format.

• Member, Texas Bar
• JD, with honors, University of Texas School of Law
• BA in Political Science, summa cum laude, Texas A&M University 

What is your history of supporting Democratic organizations and/or candidates prior to your run for office?

I have been a member of KBAD since 2020 and have been twice selected as a delegate to the Democratic State Convention in 2022 and 2024.  My family has proudly supported the Hays County Democratic Party for several years, and I am currently a sustaining member of the party.  I have supported democratic tickets in Hays County since 2020, when I moved to Hays County, with particular focus on Judges Sherri Tibbe, Alicia Key, and Beth Smith in their campaigns.  Finally, I worked as part of a team of attorneys for our current democratic DA's post-election transition team.

What, if any, experience do you have with non-partisan volunteering and community engagement in Hays County?

I currently serve in my second term as a Director for the Hays County Bar Association's Board of Directors and have previously served as President of the Hays County Young Lawyers Association.  Outside of the law, I have previously served as the Chair of the Scheib Opportunity Center, a local nonprofit focused on supporting local mental health services through services for mental illness, intellectual disability, and our youth respite center.  Finally, my husband and I have been regular supporters of the Hays-Caldwell Women's Center and Texas State Athletics.

What area(s) of the law have you practiced?

As an attorney, I have primarily practiced criminal law and criminal appellate law.  On a case-by-case basis, I have also handled civil mental health cases, civil protective order cases, and governmental regulatory law.

How do you feel about abortion access?

I support a woman's right to make her own medical decisions in conjunction with her doctor.  While the state has a limited interest in providing certain medical regulations as recognized under the original Roe framework, such as they would for any standard medical care or procedures, our legislators should not be in the business of making the most personal of medical decisions for women or forcing women who are already in an extremely vulnerable state to take more difficult actions to protect their own health.

The rule of law is under unprecedented attack in America. How can we trust you to defend the rights of all Hays County people even in the face of pressure from the state and federal government?

Every prosecutor takes an oath on their first day to defend the constitution and laws of the United States and of Texas.  Additionally, every prosecutor's paramount duty is to 'see that justice is done.'  That doesn't mean seeking a conviction, or getting as many years of incarceration as possible, or winning trials.  It means ensuring through personal action that the right thing happens in each case.  I take my constitutional oath and job to 'see that justice is done' extremely seriously, and I have a proven record of doing so.  To be honest, it starts with the small things, like reviewing a traffic stop to determine the validity of a defense attorney's claims that a stop may have occurred improperly.  I teach every attorney in the office that, if we know a stop occurred improperly, we are not going to stand by it.  If that means dismissing a case and having an angry officer, then so be it.  This may seem like a small example compared to the immense pressure from Austin and Washington D.C. but it is fundamentally the same thing.  If something is the right thing to do, then we will do it, including stepping in and taking it upon ourselves to defend the rights of citizens accused.

On a strategic level, we also have a major opportunity here in Hays County that is being underutilized.  We have a 'Criminal' District Attorney's Office, which means that we have a civil law division in addition to our criminal prosecution divisions.  Other offices that have civil divisions, such as the Harris County Attorney's Office led by Christian Menefee, regularly use civil legal cases to push back against overreach from Austin and Washington D.C..  Harris County has been able to use their civil legal department to fight back against power grabs by AG Paxton, the EPA's recent efforts to lessen regulatory standards, and protect SNAP benefits.  As Governor Abbott and whoever replaces AG Paxton continue to attack local prosecutors, I will stand firm both to protect the citizens of Hays County.  There is no reason that we cannot explore utilizing our civil legal resources to help join these efforts to protect our neighbors.

What will you do to support alternatives to incarceration for people guilty of minor crimes or people with mental health issues?

The DA's Office initiated a completely out-of-court Pre-Trial Diversion program that allows defendants with minor crimes to complete requirements like community service, counseling, and potential drug testing in return for an up-front dismissal or declination of charges.  The office also agrees to an expunction of the criminal episode with successful completion (meaning that all record of an arrest can be removed from public record, a true 'clean slate').  This program has resulted in hundreds of defendants getting a second chance to go forward without a criminal record.  If elected, I will invest more resources in this program with a goal of expanding its capacity and expanding the number of services that can be given through it.  In addition to this program, we have worked with our local judges to initiate diversion programs directly aimed at substance abuse to divert defendants outside of the criminal justice system where appropriate.

As for mental health diversion, the DA's Office has invested a great deal of resources into the Mental Health Court and both inpatient and outpatient mental health services as an alternative to previous cycles of crises.

First, we have worked with Judge Brown to exponentially grow the Mental Health Court and to expand it, working with Judge Tibbe, to felony cases.  Our county's mental health court is a shining example for counties throughout Texas, but it needs more resources so that it can both deepen its current services and expand to help others.  I am committed to making that happen.

Second, the new Assisted Outpatient Treatment program is designed to provide a complete alternative to the criminal justice system for those with deeply engrained mental health illnesses.  The program allows prosecutors to transfer cases from the criminal court to the probate court, which allows Judge Brown to supervise the participant and ensure that they receive appropriate counseling and support from our partners in the local mental health authority.

Finally, we have initiated a new 'jail-based competency restoration' program, which allows the local mental health authority to embed directly in the Hays County Jail to provide mental health services to defendants who are not mentally fit to proceed to trial.  Previously, defendants were forced to wait for spot at the State Hospital (which could take 300 days to over a year) to receive the care they needed to proceed.  Now, with the work of all of our partners to implement jail-based competency restoration, the same services can be provided within 30 to 60 days.

All of these accomplishments are real examples of criminal justice reform that Hays County should be proud of, but we cannot let up on the gas and need to continue to double down on diversion.  

Some people are being held in pre-trial incarceration for long periods of time. How will you address the backlog of cases and speed up the justice process while respecting the rights of the victim and the accused?

This is another example of the real criminal justice reform, with receipts, that we have achieved for Hays County.  In January of 2023, there were approximately 5,600 cases awaiting review by prosecutors for a filing decision.  These cases involved real victims and defendants who were waiting for the chance to even enter the courtroom.  For example, it was not uncommon for a prosecutor to receive a domestic violence case for initial review one year after the date of arrest.  But this was not a matter of lazy prosecutors not reviewing cases, it was the result of inefficiencies and system stresses from the COVID-19 pandemic that had never been appropriately addressed.  Over the last three years, we overhauled our policies, organizational structure, and training, and we have cut that backlog by around 70%.  This decimation of our backlog has allowed us to move to other inefficiencies within our system to more effectively speed up case resolution.  For example, we have completely overhauled our evidence and case management operating system to allow for a more efficient sharing of evidence between law enforcement agencies, the DA's Office, and defense attorneys.  We have also created an intake division to review all non-violent felony offenses so that trial prosecutors are not having to balance dockets and trials with constant review of incoming cases.  As we have progressed, this intake division has grown from one attorney to three attorneys, which has increased the number of cases that can be reviewed efficiently.

Going forward, I will invest more resources in the intake division and our evidence management technology to continue pressing at what remains of our intake backlog.  The further we can reduce that overall number, the easier it will be for attorneys to effectively devote the time and attention that each case deserves in an efficient manner.  The earlier that this decision can be made, the earlier defendants and victims can get the opportunity to either challenge the charges in court or seek an agreed resolution.

What democratic principles are most important to you and how will they inform your actions as District Attorney?

It may sound cliche, but the most basic democratic principle that undergirds everything that I do as a prosecutor is that every person must be treated fairly and with understanding for the facts and circumstances that led them to the place that they are in now.  For instance, if a person has become involved in the criminal justice system because they never received the mental health care that they needed, then we need to focus on connecting that person with services that will ensure that the conduct never happens again.  Sometimes, the severity of an offense will mean that that care needs to be provided through inpatient care or civil commitment in a secure hospital, but we still have to keep it in our minds.  This principle also doesn't mean that people just get to get out of consequences.  Everyone being treated fairly means that our neighbors get to live in safe neighborhoods and that our kids get to grow up without being afraid of violence.  If someone makes a decision to commit violence or to take advantage of others for their own personal gain, then they will be held responsible, it doesn't matter who they are or how expensive their attorney is.

Yes or no, did you use AI to assist you in answering any of these questions?

NO