Judge reverts former school police chief Pete Arredondo’s honorable discharge status after Uvalde CISD’s challenge

The new ruling has now closed the case

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UVALDE, Texas – Former Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who was fired for cause, had previously won an appeal to remove a blemish from his discharge file. However, that honorable discharge has now reverted back to a general discharge after a judge ruled in favor of the district’s challenge.

The honorable discharge decision had cleared Arredondo’s record in case he wanted another law enforcement job. The new ruling has now closed the case.

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Arredondo was heavily scrutinized for how he handled the Robb Elementary shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

He repeatedly defended what he did and called his firing a “public lynching.”

Uvalde CISD issued the following statement:

“Uvalde CISD recently received an important update from The State Office of Administrative Hearings regarding Pedro M. Arredondo’s case against the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department. The Decision and Order stated that the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement will not be changing the F-5 Report of Separation of Licensee issued by the Uvalde CISD Police Department for Mr. Arredondo. The hearing Judge ruled in favor of the district’s challenge and this decision reverses the previous decision by TCOLE and changes the Honorable Discharge to the original General Discharge and closes the case.”

Per Texas Commission on Law Enforcement policy, when a member of law enforcement leaves an agency, an F-5 Report of Separation of Licensee is filed, and that officer will receive either an honorable, general, or dishonorable discharge status.

Texas 2036, a state-level policy organization, broke down each of those categories.

Honorably: Separated from agency in good standing.

Generally: Separated from agency, and it was related to a disciplinary investigation or for a documented performance problem.

Dishonorably: Separated from agency, and it was related to allegations of criminal misconduct or due to insubordination or untruthfulness.

In June 2023, Texas lawmakers signed off on law enforcement reforms with Senate Bill 1445, which according to a Texas 2036 “represents an attempt to make comprehensive reforms at a state agency whose approach to regulating law enforcement was “toothless,” “fundamentally broken,” and “largely ineffective,” according to findings in the legislative interim by staff at the Sunset Advisory Commission.


About the Author
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Leigh Waldman is an investigative reporter at KSAT 12. She joined the station in 2021. Leigh comes to San Antonio from the Midwest after spending time at a station in Omaha, NE. After two winters there, she knew it was time to come home to Texas. When Leigh is not at work, she enjoys eating, playing with her dogs and spending time with family.

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