I prosecute in 3 rural counties. Most of our felony crime is committed by non-gang members, but we do have a number of cases involving prison gang members.

My question is: if there were no prison gangs, would that reduce crime in any significant way in your jurisdiction?

From what I have heard from TDC types, cops, etc., and from reading the Mexican Mafia constitution, prison gangs consider their members to be in the gang for life, and are expected to report to a gang member in their home town once they are released from prison. Thereafter they are expected to commit crimes as directed by their "superiors."

Does this seem to be the case? What is your experience?

I think it would be very useful if on an inmates's pen pack TDC would note whether the con was documented as "affiliated" while in the joint. I wonder if that would be a big hasssle? A.P.?

If you suspect your defendant is in a prison gang, call TDCJ's Security Threat Group Management Office, and they can look up whether the guy is documented as being affiliated with a gang. Now, just because he's not documented, though, doesn't necessarily mean he's not in the gang. He might have been a "prospect" in prison, and is a made guy now that he's out in the freeworld.

We recently had a couple of Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos (HPL) gang members causing trouble up our way, and we have our share of Aryan Brotherhood, too. I found out at my HPL defendant's trial that the gang officer at the jail oversaw a mediation between HPL and Texas Syndicate members at our jail -- sort of the brokering of a peace treaty. Pretty strange.

The AG's office, pursuant to state law, maintains a gang web site that includes information on prison gangs. You can access the website by registering with the AG. For more info, go to the web page

I like the website idea for starters...I would hate to call everytime a defendant with a prior came through