The Top ‘O Texas Republican Women recently held their monthly meeting with guest speaker Texas Ranger Jorge Perez, providing insight on his background and what the Texas Rangers do. Introducing him was TOTRW President Kathryn Green.
“It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Texas Ranger Jorge Perez. He is a dedicated law enforcement professional from Hereford. But this summer, he and his family are coming to Pampa. He currently serves as a Texas Ranger with the Texas Department of Public Safety. With over a decade of experience in public safety, he has built an extinguished career rooted in integrity, service, and a commitment to protecting his community. He began his career with the Deaf Smith County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy sheriff, serving from 2012 to 2015. He then joined the Texas Department of Public Safety where he advanced through the ranks of the Texas Highway Patrol as Trooper 1, Trooper 2, Trooper 3, serving in Hereford and Vega from 2015 to 2024. He later transitioned to the Criminal Investigations Division as a special agent from 2024 to 2026 before earning his current position as Texas Ranger in February of 2026. He holds a master peace officer certificate through TCOLE and has demonstrated a high level of professional training and leadership throughout his career. He earned a bachelor of business administration from West Texas A&M University in Canyon in 2009, and an associate of business administration from Amarillo College in 2007. Known for his open-minded approach and strong work ethic, he is committed to continued growth both professionally and personally. Outside his law enforcement career, he enjoys running, fitness, and spending quality time with his wife and three children, reflecting his dedication to both family and community. He remains dedicated to serving the people of Texas with honor, professionalism, and unwavering commitment. Please give a warm welcome to Texas Ranger Jorge Perez.”
“Thank you for having me here. The Rangers started in 1823 with Stephen F. Austin-he was looking for a group of individuals to protect new settlers and he referred to that group as Rangers, so we have a very long history. It’s grown, changed and evolved, and most of the things we’re tasked with currently are major criminal investigations, assisting other law enforcement agencies, the district attorney’s office will also request our assistance on major cases. I worked for the Deaf Smith County Sheriff’s Office which is a small agency, so I know what it is to be limited on resources and manpower. I will say this about Pampa PD-they seem to be pretty squared away and have a pretty good police force here and a good group of investigators. Some of the cases that we work are murders, kidnappings, sexual assault, child abuse, and officer-involved shootings are a big one. We mostly get called in for that by highway patrol or other police departments and it helps them be transparent because we come in as an outside agency to take care of it. We do in-custody death investigations at the county jails, public corruption, embezzlement, fraud cases, and election violations as well. Our history was the protection of Texas and here we still get tasked with border security as well, both in criminal division investigations and highway patrol troopers. I was deployed to the border and helped secure that as well, and as Rangers, we still get sent down there.”
“There’s currently around 172 Rangers in the whole state, so we are very few and we cover a lot of ground. I myself cover five counties and my office is now in Pampa. I can live within 50 air miles of Pampa, but my family and I enjoy that small town community. Hereford gave us that, but I think Pampa is going to give us that more. We are currently in the process of moving here. My wife is a school counselor and has spoken to Pampa ISD and they offered her a teaching job, so she’s excited about that. Being able to speak one on one with a few of you here, you’re very involved with the community and that’s what me and my family want to do. We could probably easily move northeast of Amarillo, but I don’t think I would be given a better opportunity than to live with you all right here, so I’m looking forward to getting moved here by the summer.”
“Do you think you’re eventually going to have to comply with the body cam?”
“Most of the time when we come in, the crime has already occurred. So when we’re investigating someone, we’re going to utilize 90% of the time in an interview room that is equipped with video and audio recordings. I don’t see us going toward that because my engagement with any suspects or witnesses is going to be after the fact. We don’t stop cars anymore and for cases, we don’t have the jurisdiction. We’ve never had any issues not having a body cam because we will be most likely utilizing an interview room, which is better than a body cam.”
“You said the Rangers were established by Stephen Austin, but wasn’t there a brief period of so many years where the Texas Rangers had been done away with then reinstituted?”
“Yes, we’ve had a very long history, and throughout the years they’ve kind of disappeared and come back through legislation in 1835. There was a governor who wanted to dismantle them, but we were able to bounce back. It’s a very complicated history as far as coming and going. They’ve definitely changed in size since 1823. History tells us that was our first year and we’ve had some low years where they were dismantled but it never failed that Texas needed protection and we were needed.”
“There was a time in history that the Rangers were not well looked at because of the things they did back in those days,” Texas Ranger Max Honesto said. “That was when they were dismantled, but legislature allowed them to come back up and here we are. If you guys read the history, the Rangers were pretty brutal back in the old days.”
“How do you work with the DA and when are you brought into an investigation?”
“There’s a lot of different ways. Recently a small sheriff’s office needed assistance with an indecency with a child case, so they reached out to us and asked for our assistance because they were limited on resources and manpower,” Jorge said. “We have some pretty good analysts who can go through financials and things like that. Another time may be when there’s a complaint on a police officer. That complaint will originate in the DA’s office and if they see it fit to be investigated, then they will contact me directly.”
“We don’t work for the district attorney’s office, we work with them,” Max said. “There have been times at the request of the district attorney’s office where they want us to look at something and you have to understand we’re coming into their territory, so they’re already a little apprehensive about that because they’re like, ‘who’s this guy?’ The way I break the ice with them is I say just because I’m dressed this way and because of my title, I don’t know more than you do. I tell them I can bring resources to the table. If we need to fly to Washington to interview a suspect of a murder, with just a phone call we have a plane or a chopper. As far as the district attorney’s office, when I’m presenting a case and we don’t see it the right way and they want us to do things a certain way that I don’t think is feasable for the investigation, sometimes we just have to comprimise. I’m presenting to you what I have, now I’m asking you to present it to the grand jury or do something with it.”
“In my mind, the Texas Rangers are very elite. Your reputation for investigation is top notch. I want to know if y’all were brought in for the Thomas Brown case, did you participate?”
“No, I did not,” Max said. “I’ve been with the Rangers myself for three years and when I came into the division, I was a Ranger down in Corpus and was there for a year. I’ve been up here for about two years. I was familiar with it, but I did not participate.”
“Does each state have their own Rangers?”
“No, Texas is pretty unique. Other states have their own investigation divisions, and Texas does as well, which is what I was a part of as well,” Jorge said. “But as far as I know, other states don’t have anything other than their investigation divisions to handle their other cases. In CID we mainly covered narcotics, some fraud cases, human trafficking, but for the major crimes, Rangers handle that.”
“You said you cover five counties. Are they the same five counties that our district attorney covers?”
“So I cover Ochiltree, Lipscomb, Roberts, Gray, and Hemphill counties, so most of those are also in his district.”
“Will you be transferred often or are you here permanently?”
“For the most part, I’m here. But let’s say if a duty station opens up somewhere I really want to move to, although I don’t see that happening, I could put in a transfer. But they won’t really move us unless it’s our choice or preference.”
“How do you become a Texas Ranger?”
“You have to have eight years total law enforcement experience and four of those have to be with DPS in Texas. So before you can even promote to DPS, you have to have four years in law enforcement. There are really good investigators out there and PD officers who can apply to be a trooper, but his end goal is to be Ranger, he has to have four years as a trooper. But even then it’s very competitive because they’re competing with applicants across the state with different credentials, training, and college degrees. My board consisted of five different members where they asked a lot of Fourth Amendment questions and set up scenarios for you, and part of applying for Ranger, you submit an in-house resume of everything you have done in your law enforcement career and they are verified.”
“Do you still have cases of cattle rustling?”
“There are other special investigators that handle cattle crimes. They have the title of Special Ranger, but they don’t have to go through what we do to become a Texas Ranger.”
“Do you ride horses?”
“I personally don’t, but Max does.”
“Do you wear any kind of protective vests or anything?”
“We are heavily equipped and have access to a vest in case we come across a hot scene or heaven forbid an active shooter situation. But 90% when we’re involved, it’s just for the investigation side.”
“Can an individual call you in or do you have to law enforcement or an elected official call you in?”
“We can’t just open a case for an individual, so if someone were to come into my office to complain about a police officer, I would hear them out and then walk over to the district attorney’s office to let him hear it out. And if it’s something that we both can investigate, then we would jump on it. So Max can’t come to me and say someone stole his bicycle, he would have to call the police department.”
“Where is your office?”
“At the Texas Department of Public Safety office here in Pampa.”
“What can you tell us about your fancy belts and buckles?”
“It’s more of a traditional thing where we carry a dual belt system. These were handmade at the Polinski Unit where they make pretty great quality leather stuff. Some Rangers stick to a single belt because it’s probably a little more comfortable, but I like the traditional. The badge is actually a single peso where the front has been defaced and engraved which has also been a long tradition.”
“Do you have to pay for your own?”
“Yes, they’ll issue certain things to us, but there is a great organization in Waco who helps us with a stipend when we first make Ranger and makes the purchase of our gear a lot more affordable.”
“Do you support the right to carry?”
“I personally have no issues with it. I think if the person is responsible and trained, there shouldn’t be an issue. I think everybody here should be able to protect themselves.”
