About Civil Service Commission

The mission of the Travis County Sheriff's Office Civil Service Commission is to promote a quality Office by establishing and enforcing rules and regulations that pertain to employee selection, advancement, benefits, rights and working conditions consistent with the Office’s needs and circumstances.

Commission Members

Carlos Garcia

Commission Chairperson

2005 - 2010, 2017 to Present

Chairman Carlos Garcia is from Rio Grande City, Texas. He came to Austin in 1980 to attend The University of Texas at Austin. In 1989, he graduated from the University of Texas Law School. Chairman Garcia worked as felony prosecutor for Starr and Travis Counties in the early 1990’s before becoming a criminal defense attorney in 1995. Much of Chairman Garcia’s work has involved capital trial work and serious felony work. Chairman Garcia was appointed as Chair of the Civil Service by Sheriff Sally Hernandez in 2017. Chairman Garcia’s interests include participating as a course director/or presenter in continuing education programs for attorneys and as a religious education teacher at Santa Cruz Catholic Church. Chairman Garcia is married with four children and one grandchild.

Daniel R. Richards (Dan)

Commissioner

2020 to Present

Born in Dallas, Texas, Dan Richards moved to Austin as a child in 1969 and has lived here ever since. Dan and his wife Linda have been married for more than 25 years and have two grown children. Dan has been a practicing civil trial attorney since his graduation from the University of Texas Law School. He is a founding partner at the law firm of Richards, Rodriguez & Skeith LLP and has represented clients throughout the state of Texas in both State and Federal court. Dan represents individuals, companies and governmental entities in court as both plaintiffs and defendants.

Dan is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Austin Bar Association and the Texas Bar Foundation. Dan takes his work seriously and tries to use his time to make Austin and Central Texas a better place to live. Dan believes strongly in the responsibility of government to help those less fortunate.

Ciara S. Parks

Commissioner

2024 to Present

Ciara Parks was born in San Diego, California and she lived there through elementary school. She moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where she attended high school. Ciara then moved to Dayton, Ohio where she attended college and received her B.S. from the University of Dayton in 2004. Ciara earned her J.D. from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in 2009.

Ciara met her husband Cliffton in college. They have been married for 14 years and they have three beautiful children.

Ciara’s maternal family resides in Waco, Texas. After many years of residing in the Midwest, job opportunities brought Ciara and her family to Austin in 2016.

Ciara is the General Counsel for the Texas Board of Law Examiners. She worked previously as an Assistant District Attorney with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office for over 3 years and the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office in Dayton, Ohio for over 10 years.

Ciara is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Director for the Austin Bar Association, Vice Chair of the Austin Black Lawyers Association Foundation, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Chair for the Council of Bar Admissions Administrators, member of the Travis County Women Lawyer’s Association and Associate Coordinator for Central Texas Youth Ministries. Ciara is a servant leader and takes leadership and diverse representation seriously.

Meet the Staff

Marivel Garza

Program Director

Marivel Garza is the Program Director of the Civil Service Commission for Travis County Sheriff’s Office employees. She has more than 28 years of experience in the legal field with considerable knowledge in all aspects of case preparation and management, research, and the judicial system. She also has 19 years of experience teaching adult basic education to non-native speakers with ACC/AISD adult education and literacy programs. As an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor, she taught and implemented state content standards and benchmarks for adult basic education.

Ms. Garza was the Judicial Aide Specialist for an elected Travis County criminal court Judge for 14 years before beginning her tenure at the Civil Service Commission in July 2022. Along with coordinating and managing the daily activities of the court, she served as a liaison between attorneys, clients, the media, law enforcement, and other government agencies.

Ms. Garza graduated from the University of Texas-Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Minor in Sociology, and a Business Foundations Certificate.

Trey Trieschock

Assistant Program Director

Trey Trieschock is the Assistant Program Director of the Civil Service Commission for Travis County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) employees. He started his career with TCSO in Corrections and worked his way up through various ranks over seven and a half years. In 2018, he joined the PREA Program and played a key role in keeping the agency compliant during two successful audits. His commitment to personal development is evident through his pursuit of further education, which includes training from the PREA Resource Center. In 2023, he was promoted to head up the PREA Department as its Coordinator, demonstrating strong leadership skills while consistently supporting frontline staff in their roles.

Mr. Trieschock graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science in Administration of Justice and a Minor in Civic and Community Engagement.

TAX RATE: TRAVIS COUNTY ADOPTED A TAX RATE THAT WILL RAISE MORE TAXES FOR MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS THAN LAST YEAR’S TAX RATE. THE TAX RATE WILL EFFECTIVELY BE RAISED BY 12.7 PERCENT AND WILL RAISE TAXES FOR MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS ON A $100,000 HOME BY APPROXIMATELY $34.51.

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