WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate has confirmed three Texans for posts in the federal judicial system.

Senators approved Ricardo Hinojosa of McAllen as chairman of the U.S. Sentencing Commission and Micaela Alvarez as a federal judge in Texas' southern judicial district. The panel also approved the nomination of Richard Roper III for U.S. attorney of the state's northern judicial district on Saturday.

Hinojosa has served as interim chairman of the sentencing commission. He was appointed to the job by President Bush during an August congressional recess. The commission establishes federal court sentencing policies and practices.

The commission will play an important role in sorting out the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June that has raised questions about the constitutionality of federal sentencing guidelines, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Monday.

Hinojosa has worked as a federal judge in Texas' southern district since 1983. Alvarez has been in private practice in McAllen. She served as a state district judge in Hidalgo County from 1995-96.

Roper is a career prosecutor who has worked in the U.S. Attorney's office in the northern district since 1987. He served as an assistant district attorney for Tarrant County for five years. He has been serving as the district's interim U.S. attorney since June. He will oversee one of the largest U.S. Attorney offices in the country, with more than 100 counties.

All three were recommended as nominees by Cornyn and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, also a Texas Republican.

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