By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Jose Francisco “Joe Frank” Martinez is seeking re-election as Val Verde County Sheriff.
Martinez will first seek the Democratic Party nomination for the office. He will run unopposed in the March 5 Democratic Party Primary Election.
Martinez was born and raised in Del Rio, attended Del Rio schools and graduated from Del Rio High School in 1975.
He joined the Del Rio Police Department in 1977 and served as a Del Rio police officer for four-and-a-half years.
Martinez then joined the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), attending the DPS Academy in June 1982 and graduating in October of that year. He first served as a trooper stationed in Sonora, Texas, then returned to the DPS Del Rio station in 1984.
Martinez worked in the DPS highway patrol division, then as a trooper in license and weights from 1984 to 1997, where he was responsible for Kinney, Val Verde and Maverick counties.
He served in the agency’s criminal law enforcement division in 1997 and worked there until 1998, when he was promoted to DPS narcotics investigations.
Martinez retired from the DPS as a sergeant investigator in 2007.
Martinez was elected Val Verde County Sheriff in 2008 and began serving his first term in January 2009. He has been the county sheriff ever since and is currently serving his fourth term.
Martinez said he decided to run again because he believes his work at the sheriff’s office is not over.
“We’re up to 48 commissioned positions, to include myself. Over the years, we’ve added 12 to 16 additional positions to the office, had positions added to the criminal investigations division, patrol, the bailiffs, so we’ve added those positions over the years,” Martinez said.
The sheriff and his staff also oversee a number of grants.
“We oversee the Stonegarden grant that comes through the federal government by way of the state of Texas, and we also oversee the Operation Lone Star grant. That is something new that has been going on for about three years now, and also the Border Security grant, which was in place before Operation Lone Star and pays for overtime and fuel for patrol deputies,” Martinez said.
“I think I’ve still got a lot to offer the community. The main thing is serving our citizens, and I think we’ve done a good job to this point in time. It is a calling, to serve,” Martinez said.
“I think that over the years we’ve done a lot of great things in getting to where we’re at today. These last three years have been difficult. They’ve been a challenge in many ways. We were faced with the Haitian crisis. We were faced with the winter storm. We dealt with the COVID pandemic, and we were there, ready to meet those difficulties, every step of the way,” Martinez said.
“I think we did a great job managing all those things and rose to the challenges as they came. I’m not saying we’re perfect, but I feel that we’ve come a long way, and we’re better than we were five, eight, 10 years ago. We’re in a better place, and my goal is to eventually leave this office in a better place than I found it for the citizens of Val Verde County. I truly believe we’re making strides toward that,” Martinez said.
Reach the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
