Donnie Yandell is currently seeking the 286th District Attorney’s position that covers Hockley and Cochran County in the 2024 Primary Election.
A military child that spent his childhood growing up around the world, Yandell would eventually find his home in Hockley County in the Ropesville area.
Yandell began his law enforcement career as a reserve deputy constable in Hockley County Precinct 1, the area around Ropesville. From there, he worked there for a year for free while working at a couple of other paid jobs in Lubbock. Eventually he was hired by the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Police Department in 1992. At that time Yandell met his wife Angie Oates, now Angie Yandell. The couple then married in November of 1993.
He then begin law school at the TTU School of Law in 1999 and graduated in December 2001. While in law school, Yandell worked part-time in law enforcement as a police officer for the Cooper ISD Police Department.
Yandell also worked as a law clerk for a couple of attorneys in law school. Upon graduation and passing the bar exam, he opened his office and started practicing. In private practice, he handled everything from business law, civil law, family law and criminal defense. Yandell explained that he has represented individuals in both state and federal court in civil and criminal matters.
“I have also argued in front of two different Courts of Appeals and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on the state level and appealed a federal conviction to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans,” said Yandell. “As my career progressed, I started narrowing my area of practice. I began to practice primarily criminal defense with a touch of family law.”
Yandell currently serves as the Chief Public Defender for the Caprock Regional Public Defender Office (CRPDO).
“My office covered 16 counties at one time, but we are now down to 12,” explained Yandell. “I work all over this region in multiple counites with prosecutors and judges. My students and I have developed a reputation for being zealous advocates for our clients. We are also known to be honest and trustworthy. I teach them to outwork everyone else involved in the case. This has resulted in extremely good results for most of our clients.”
Working for the CRPDO through Texas Tech University, Yandell believes it is the first of its kind in the state and in the country. Yandell added that he has been approached by community members within Hockley County if he would be filing his candidacy for the district attorney position in the past.
Tossing the idea around, Yandell was unsure if his current position would create a conflict of interest if he did file his candidacy. It was not until community members urged him to file that he took the decision to file more seriously.
“Once I had conversation with individuals urging me to run for the position instead of simply asking if I was, I talked to the dean of the law school and he said it should be no issue,” explained Yandell. “That was the final hurdle for me and my wife explained that it must be God putting things in place for me to do this.”
Talking with constituents, Yandell feels that what makes him a viable candidate is that he is knowledgeable in criminal law and willing to put forth the work necessary to ensure the 286th District is served well.
“I am a leader that will bring both my office and the rest of the criminal justice community back into a fluid system where everyone’s concerns are addressed and cases are moved at a reasonable pace, ensuring not only justice for the victims of crime in the district but also keeping the expenses to the taxpayers of the district as low as possible,” said Yandell. “I will listen to the stakeholders and do my best to ensure everyone is represented equally by my office. As a result of my hard work and integrity within the criminal justice system over the last 22-plus years, I hope to have the trust and respect of the district lacking in the current DA’s office.”
Yandell has put an emphasis of efficiency on his candidacy when talking about what he brings to the table.
“I am not sure of the current process that is being used within the office, but I have had former and current personnel within the office along with law enforcement personnel encourage my filing because of the state of case movement and other issues,” said Yandell. “With the knowledge that I bring and the proven ability in a leadership role, I feel that I can bring improvement to the overall efficiency of the office.”
Yandell explained that the DA’s leadership, knowledge and work ethic are essential to the efficient administration of justice. The criminal justice system is designed for all parties to work against one another, but at the same time, work together for an efficient and reliable outcome for the victims of crime as well as for the perpetrators.
My office will be organized and efficient,” said Yandell. “This will result in cases being moved at a reasonable pace, resulting in the victims of crime having a resolution to their ordeal and the accused receiving justice in a fair, timely, and even-handed manner. This will also benefit the taxpayers of the district in that preconviction incarceration will not be as long, resulting in a lower jail population and hopefully few, if any, inmates housed outside of the county.”
Along with concerns about inmate housing and pace of case movement, Yandell feels there is concern from Cochran County community members and its lack of representation from the current DA’s office.
“They feel like they are not represented adequately in their criminal and felony cases,” said Yandell. “My plan is whoever is in that office with me will be assigned a percentage if not completely responsible for Cochran County cases. They pay tax dollars similar to Hockley County and they deserve the same level of representation with their case load.”
In his past experience working in Hockley County, Yandell explained that the district attorney has been the one who has always tried cases in Hockley and Cochran. He feels that is not sustainable and the most efficient when Hockley County is continuing to grow and cases begin to grow as a result.
When talking to voters, Yandell feels that there is not enough understanding of the criminal process and how things move through the DA’s office.
“The district attorney and additional attorneys have to have the experience to spot issues,” said Yandell. “I tell my students that they have to look at things from different perspectives from the prosecutor, officer and common person who is going to be on the jury.”
Yandell emphasized that the office has to be able to spot the strong and weak points in a case and evaluate the value of the case.
“We have to look at if it is a strong case or weak case that needs to strengthened before we can get an idea of what a jury is going to do and what a fair punishment,” explained Yandell. “Once that is done you have to make that offer and be available to talk to defense council and negotiate. If the offer is not accepted we go to trial.”
With that, Yandell explained that people should not sit in jail for an extended period of time during pre-conviction.
“Once you handle that, you begin to focus on violent criminal cases and begin to work your way down,” said Yandell. “You do have to keep in mind the court schedule and the defense attorney has to have time to evaluate the case. However, once you make and offer and it is not accepted, you go trial.”