Governor Greg Abbott has appointed David McCracken to the Texas Violent Gang Task Force for a term set to expire at the pleasure of the Governor. The task force forms strategic partnerships among local, state, and federal criminal justice, juvenile justice, and correctional agencies to better enable those agencies to take a proactive stance towards tracking gang activity and the growth and spread of gangs statewide.

David McCracken of Bastrop is the chief felony assistant district attorney for the Bastrop County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. Previously, he served as an assistant district attorney for the counties of Lubbock and El Paso, where he was assigned to prosecute cases originating from the El Paso and Lubbock Anti-Gang Centers and as a prosecutor in The United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the State Bar of Kentucky. McCracken received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Grove City College, Master of Science in Intelligence and National Security from The University of Texas at El Paso, and Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law.