U.S. Attorney Northern District of Texas
Sarah R. Saldaña has served as the presidentially-appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas since September 2011. As U.S. Attorney, Ms. Saldaña leads four staffed offices with nearly 220 employees, including approximately 100 attorneys. The District spans 100 counties and approximately 95,000 square miles.
U.S. Attorney Saldaña, a native of Corpus Christi, Texas, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Texas A&M University in 1973 and earned her law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1984, where she was a member of the Journal of Air Law & Commerce. She was appointed by Mayor Annette Strauss to the City of Dallas Zoning Board of Adjustment for the 1989-1991 term. She is a prior member of the SMU Law Alumni Association Council and has taught Legal Writing/Research Methods at SMU Dedman School of Law. In addition, U.S. Attorney Saldaña is active in numerous professional organizations, including the Dallas and Texas Bar Associations, the Dallas and National Hispanic Bar Associations, the William Mac Taylor Inn of Court, and the Dallas and Texas Bar Foundations. Just recently, she was recognized as the 2011 Latina Attorney of the Year at the 38th Annual Hispanic National Bar Association Convention.
U.S. Attorney Saldaña began her professional career as a Language Arts school teacher at D.A. Hulcy Middle School in Dallas before working for several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor, Housing and Urban Development and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She then attended law school and upon graduation, clerked for U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders. In 1985, she entered private practice at Haynes and Boone, LLP, working on matters relating to commercial and employment law litigation. She later joined Baker Botts, LLP, where she was a partner in the Trial Department until 1999. In 2004, Ms. Saldaña was appointed as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas where she prosecuted a variety of criminal cases on behalf of the U.S., including bank and mortgage fraud, civil rights, human trafficking, and public corruption. Most recently she served as the Deputy Criminal Chief in charge of the District’s Fraud and Public Corruption section.
