From Dallas ISD Teacher to Don Hill Prosecutor to North Texas's New U.S. Attorney

Friends of Unfair Park who followed the federal City Hall corruption trial in 2009 may recall the name Sarah Saldaña; she was among the more prominent prosecutors on that team. But till I glanced at her U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary questionnaire, I had no idea, for instance, that from 1989 till '91, the SMU grad served as an alternate on the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment as then-Mayor Annette Strauss's appointee; or that she was an eighth-grade language-arts teacher in the Dallas Independent School District in the early 1970s. That's quite the range.

And as of today, officially and at long last, Sarah Saldaña is the newest U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, following this morning's swearing-in performed by Chief U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater. Took a while to get the Obama nominee the title -- Richard Roper left for private practice in '08 -- but she got there today.

"I am honored by the privilege of serving as U.S. Attorney and greatly appreciative of President Obama's appointment and the consent of the United States Senate, particularly Senators Cornyn and Hutchison," Saldaña says in a statement just sent by the U.S. Attorney's Office. "I am fully aware of the special trust and confidence they have placed in me and of the grave responsibilities of this office. Along with the fine women and men who serve here, we commit to continue the pursuit of justice on behalf of the citizens of North Texas."