Why Me.

My Heritage

Each life is a unique blend of our experiences and the people we know. I am the oldest of four girls. My dad died when I was 13, and I watched my mom love us through it, manage a farm, work full time, all while fighting and beating life-threatening cancer. My parents’ legacy in my life is one of faith, commitment, service, perseverance, and an unshakeable belief that God can and will bring good, even from those things that others intend for evil. We have put that belief into practice at every opportunity, seeking justice for those around us.

My dad served as both a prosecutor and defense attorney for the United States Marine Corps and Air Force. My mom is a journalist, taught school and inspired the founding of TAT, formerly Truckers Against Trafficking, a leading nonprofit that equips, empowers, and mobilizes key industries and agencies, including trucking, bus and energy, in the fight against human trafficking. One sister remains in leadership at TAT, two others fight for human rights from the corporate side, and I stand in the gap in the courtroom for those who cannot speak for themselves.

We believe that people have value, no matter who they are, where they come from, what they’ve done, or what has been done to them.

And we believe that value is worth fighting for.

Kirsta’s family growing up

My Experience

I am a career prosecutor of child abusers, batterers, rapists, murderers, and human traffickers. I’ve spent the past 25 years working with children and adults brave enough to tell what someone did to them, determined to ensure their abuser couldn’t hurt anyone else. I stood beside them as they sacrificed safety and comfort to unflinchingly speak truth in the presence of the person who once used, dominated, and terrorized them, and I urged juries toward justice and righteous verdicts to restore the value and the security so brutally torn away. But I did it within the rules.

  • 25-Year Prosecutor focused on child abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking, and intimate partner violence, ranging from assault to capital murder.

    • Founder and CEO, Institute to Combat Trafficking, 2020-present

    • Deputy Criminal Chief Human Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime Section, Office of the Texas Attorney General, 2015-2019

    • Assistant Criminal District Attorney, Bexar County, Texas, 2000-2014

  • Community Leader recognized for clear vision and marshaling people and agencies with different agendas behind a common goal.

    • Legislative coordinator, drafter, and lead advocate for Texas’s anti-trafficking policy agenda, 2015-2019

    • Chairperson Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force, 2017-2019

    • Chairperson Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinating Council, 2019

    • Advisory Board Member Central Texas Coalition Against Trafficking, 2017-2019

    • Chairperson Alamo Area Coalition Against Trafficking, 2012-2014

  • Expert, Teacher, and Trainer

    • Trained 30,000+ people on criminal law topics and human trafficking

    • Requested speaker across the state and nation

    • Featured in multiple human trafficking training films used around the country and internationally

    • Author and editor: Human Trafficking Investigation: A Practitioner’s Guide to Making the Case. Published by CRC Press, September 2024

    • Assistant Adjunct Professor, Texas State University and University of Texas

    • Consulting resource for law enforcement, prosecutors, professionals, academics, legislators, and the media on human trafficking and other criminal law topics

  • Education and Bar Membership

    • University of Texas School of Law, Juris Doctorate, August 1998

    • University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Masters of Public Affairs, August 1998

    • Cornell University, B.A. American Government, May 1993

    • Texas State Bar, Member in good standing since November 1998

My Values

The ethical obligation of a prosecutor is to seek justice for the victim, the defendant, and the community. It means pursuing the truth and letting the chips fall where they may, trying hard cases, and supporting victims with the care they need to work through a complicated justice system. It means providing resources and programs to help people address their substance use, find a way out of prostitution, or start anew to escape the effects of family violence. It means dismissing a case when that is the just result, and having the courage to reexamine a conviction if there is reason to believe it is flawed.

When the criminal justice system functions as it was designed, justice can change lives for the better. Victims can heal and pursue a future in safety and security. Defendants’ rights are respected, and procedure is followed. Investigations and prosecutions focus on the guilty parties, and the community can trust the results of the process.

To be just, the system has to work for everyone. We must recognize the difference between a mistake and a willful violation of the law that harms others.

We cannot incarcerate our way to safety, nor can we allow those who seek to rape, beat, rob, and exploit go without accountability.

Prosecutors are given discretion for a reason, and we should exercise that discretion with common sense, compassion, and the community’s perspective in mind.

My family and I have lived in Dripping Springs since 2015. Our children graduated from Dripping Springs High School and have gone on to college, jobs, and graduate school. My husband helped coach youth sports with Dripping Springs Youth Sports Association as they grew. I had the privilege of prosecuting two human trafficking cases in Hays County during my time at the Attorney General’s Office and training law enforcement and members of our community over the years. We know and love the county and the people who live here.

The Melton family

My Call

I am running for District Attorney of Hays County, Texas, because I believe in the legitimacy and the necessity of the rule of law. I believe it is there to protect all of us and that no one is above the law, and no one is below it. Politics, race, money, power, and status should not matter when we talk about “Equal Justice Under Law.”

Now more than ever, we need a District Attorney with the courage, integrity, and experience to seek justice by assessing each case individually, pursuing those that need to be pursued, and dismissing those that don’t. Great leaders lead by example. They simultaneously inspire and equip their teams to do the work and hold them to the highest ethical standards while they do it. It is time to restore people’s faith in the justice system by empowering victims, upholding the rights of defendants, and centering the community in criminal justice policy.