The Llano Estacado law man

He was raised on the Llano Estacado in Eddy County, New Mexico. Al Mitchell says if he ever writes a book of his adventures, it will be called The Llano Estacado Law Man because he has spent a good deal of his life putting criminals behind bars on the dry and treeless high plains straddling the Texas-New Mexico border.

In 1972, Al Mitchell joined the Texas Rangers and was the first non-native Texan to become a Ranger. Mitchell says, "I was honored when I was invited to join the Rangers. It's tough to get those Ranger badges. They don't just come out of a Cracker Jack box." He was assigned to Ranger Company E in Midland, and a large part of his responsibilities involved investigating oil field crimes and major criminal cases and apprehending persons responsible for committing those crimes.

It was also during this time that Mitchell started taking classes at Midland College. He says, "I figured that if I was going to stay in the Rangers, I needed to get an education. That was before they built the beautiful campus on Garfield Street. We took classes at lots of store front properties in the city. I can't even remember where all my classes were held. It seems like wherever they could find room, they'd hold a class."

"Since I was already employed in the law enforcement industry, I challenged [tested out of] a lot of the classes, and I passed all the classes that I challenged," continues Mitchell. "I remember John Hyde was one of my teachers. At that time, he was a young city attorney and taught at MC part-time. I challenged his criminal evidence class—I guess I was the only person who had ever challenged his class. So, he developed a challenge exam just for me. It contained five questions, and it took me 88 pages on a legal pad to answer them, but I passed it!" And so, in 1975, despite having an extensive case load while working as a Texas Ranger, Al Mitchell managed to receive his Associate of Applied Science degree in Criminal Justice.

Mitchell was enjoying his life in Midland and career as a Texas Ranger. Then, in 1977, public and private oil companies started taking notice of him. Shell Oil Company offered him a job working in their corporate security departments with a very lucrative salary, but Mitchell was hesitant to accept because he says, "I did not want to leave the Ranger service. I could have stayed there the rest of my life."

Mitchell asked his friend, Tom Brown, owner of Tom Brown, Inc., to "evaluate" the Shell job offer and let him know if it was any good. At the time, Tom Brown, Inc., was the largest independent oil company in Texas. Brown's response: "You don't want to go work for a major oil company and have to move to Houston. Come to work for me. We would have offered you a job a long time ago, but we didn't know we could hire you out of the Ranger service." Mitchell replied, "I don't know if you can."

Mitchell explains, "I did everything I could not to go work for those oil companies." But, then he calculated what his retirement would be if he stayed in the Texas Rangers, and he showed that figure to Tom Brown. Brown said, "I'll give that to you in stock options. Now what else do you want?" So, Mitchell left his beloved Rangers and began a 24-year career working for Tom Brown as his director of corporate security.

Mitchell credits his current employment to the experience he gained working as a Texas Ranger and later in the corporate world. Today, he owns a private investigation and consulting firm in Midland. His firm, Ranger Professional Services, Inc., specializes in civil and criminal corporate investigation. Mitchell is usually contracted by insurance companies to perform investigations in defense of their corporate clients. Part of his success in investigating the truth for his clients is due to his uncanny ability to relate to people from all walks of life—whether it is the oilfield roughneck or the company CEO. Mitchell explains, "I talk to people, investigate, find out the truth and develop the necessary evidence—right, wrong or indifferent."

Mitchell also still maintains a close association with the Texas Rangers. he is currently president of the Former Texas Ranger Association and is working with his fellow former Rangers to establish a Texas Ranger Education and Heritage Center in Fredericksburg. This purpose of the Center will be to provide information and educational materials about the history of the Texas Rangers from its establishment by Stephen F. Austin in 1823 to the present.

It is apparent that Al Mitchell takes pride in the Ranger tradition, in his Llano Estacado heritage and in his family. He and his wife Ellen have been married for 48 years. Mitchell says, "Behind every good Ranger, there's a good woman." They have two grown children, who also live in the Permian Basin, and six granddaughters.

Mitchell says, "I've seen Texas Rangers come and go from this part of the state. I've probably stayed the longest. I'll be here until I die. I tell the young Rangers who are transferred here, 'Stay her until you were out one pair of boots—you won't ever go back!"