The TxGANG database is Texas’s statewide gang intelligence system, operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety since September 1, 2000, to share information about criminal street gangs, foreign terrorist organizations, and their suspected members among law enforcement agencies. You do not have to be arrested or convicted of a crime to be listed in it, and until the legislature changes the rules, you generally will not be told you are in it.
Who Runs It and Under What Rules
DPS administers TxGANG, but the individual law enforcement agencies that submit records own those records and are responsible for making sure each one meets the criteria for inclusion. Chapter 67 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure requires agencies in cities over 50,000 people or counties over 100,000 to report gang intelligence to the system; smaller agencies may participate voluntarily.1Texas State Auditor’s Office. An Audit Report on the Department of Public Safety’s Texas Gang Intelligence Database
Because the system receives federal funding, it must also follow 28 CFR Part 23. That regulation limits collection to information supported by reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, bars records based solely on political, religious, or social views, and requires every record to be reviewed and either validated or purged within five years.2Bureau of Justice Assistance. 28 CFR Part 23 Operating Policies
As of mid-2025, DPS reported 559 participating agencies, 291 contributing agencies, and 56,360 documented gang members across 11,305 gangs.3Texas District and County Attorneys Association. The Power of the Gang Letter
How Someone Ends Up in TxGANG
Chapter 67 lays out two paths into the database. The first is a judicial finding: a criminal judgment that includes gang participation as an element of the offense, or a self-admission of gang membership during a court proceeding.
The second path is non-judicial and does not require any charge or conviction. An agency can enter a record based on two pieces of evidence drawn from a specified list. That list includes identification by an informant, gang-related tattoos or clothing, arrests alongside known gang members, use of technology for gang recruitment, and frequenting areas associated with a documented gang.4Texas State Auditor’s Office. An Audit Report on the Department of Public Safety’s Texas Gang Intelligence Database, Report No. 22-039
The agency that creates the record must keep the supporting documentation — arrest reports, photos, social media evidence, field intelligence notes — for as long as the record stays in the system. Records can be entered one at a time or uploaded in automated batches.5Texas Department of Public Safety. TxGang Operating Policies and Procedures
What Inclusion Can Cost You
Access to TxGANG requires a signed user agreement with DPS, and intelligence from it may be shared only on a “right and need to know” basis. Agencies cannot use the data to populate other searchable databases, and every query is logged in an audit trail.5Texas Department of Public Safety. TxGang Operating Policies and Procedures Within that closed circle, though, a TxGANG entry can shape real outcomes.
District attorney investigators use the database to check whether a defendant is a documented gang member, which can influence indictments, plea offers, probation conditions, and whether prosecutors pursue enhanced charges under Texas Penal Code § 71.02, the organized criminal activity statute.3Texas District and County Attorneys Association. The Power of the Gang Letter Under that statute, an offense committed as part of a criminal street gang is generally elevated one category above the underlying crime. A Class A misdemeanor becomes a state jail felony, and a first-degree felony can carry 15 to 99 years or life.6FindLaw. Texas Penal Code Section 71.02, Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity
During a 2023 legislative hearing, State Representative Terry Canales called TxGANG a “secret database” and warned that inclusion could affect plea offers, probation terms, and employment eligibility.7KXAN. Lawmaker Calls Texas Gang Database “Scary,” Urges Reform
Immigration is a newer stakes category. In 2025, federal investigators used TxGANG as one tool for identifying people alleged to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua for deportation to El Salvador’s Terrorist Confinement Center, known as CECOT.8USA Today. Mistaken Identity Deportation Salvadoran Prison9American Oversight. Texas Gang Database Contained Incorrect Information About Man Who Has Since Been Sent to CECOT Between March and April 2025, roughly 288 people were transported to CECOT on five flights, according to tracking by the National Immigration Law Center; the U.S. Supreme Court later blocked further use of the Alien Enemies Act for these removals, finding detainees had not been given enough time to challenge them.
Can You Find Out If You’re in It, or Get Out?
Under current Texas law, TxGANG has no built-in mechanism for notifying a person of their inclusion or letting them contest it. That gap is the driver behind repeated reform bills, none of which has yet become law. State Representative Mary Gonzalez has filed related legislation in three consecutive sessions. Her 2023 House Bill 230 would have required agencies to notify listed individuals within 60 days by certified mail, created a formal dispute and removal process, raised the standard for retaining a record from reasonable suspicion to probable cause, required annual state audits, and forced removal of records older than ten years without sufficient supporting evidence.10Texas Legislature. Analysis of H.B. 230 It was left pending in committee; a similar 2021 bill passed the House but died in the Senate.7KXAN. Lawmaker Calls Texas Gang Database “Scary,” Urges Reform
In the 89th Legislature (2025), Gonzalez filed House Bill 1274, referred in March 2025 to the House Homeland Security, Public Safety and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.11Texas Legislature. Author Report for Rep. Mary E. González, 89th Legislature A parallel Senate Bill 2201 from Senators Birdwell and Blanco would tighten the criteria for inclusion by removing some broader markers of gang affiliation, require documentation of the name and department of the officer who entered a record, and set mandatory removal periods of five years for adults and two for children.12Texas Legislature. S.B. 2201, 89th Legislature
How Accurate Are the Records?
The State Auditor’s Office has reviewed TxGANG twice, and both reviews found significant problems with record validation and data integrity.
The follow-up audit published in January 2025 offers the current picture. As of November 5, 2024, the database held 65,832 records. DPS had added several controls after the 2022 audit — requiring validation dates and reviewer names, generating exception reports when automated purges fail, and improving checks on batch uploads.13Texas State Auditor’s Office. An Audit Report on the Department of Public Safety’s Texas Gang Intelligence Database, Report No. 25-014
Even so, 7,199 records — about 11 percent — had not been validated within the required five-year window, and 1,245 of those had gone unvalidated for more than a decade. Roughly 91 percent of those unvalidated records belonged to incarcerated individuals; DPS had been suspending validation for people in prison, a practice auditors said is not consistent with federal regulations, which do not exempt incarcerated individuals from the five-year cycle. Auditors also found records with invalid data, including one expiration date set for the year 3003 and a batch-uploaded entry showing a birth year of 1782.13Texas State Auditor’s Office. An Audit Report on the Department of Public Safety’s Texas Gang Intelligence Database, Report No. 25-014
The earlier 2022 audit had reviewed roughly 71,640 records across 10,845 gang organizations and found similar patterns: only 56 percent of records at least ten years old had been validated on schedule, more than 5,000 records had been uploaded missing required information, and the automated purge system stopped working for a stretch in early 2022 without generating an alert.4Texas State Auditor’s Office. An Audit Report on the Department of Public Safety’s Texas Gang Intelligence Database, Report No. 22-039
What’s Changing at DPS
DPS is replacing the TxGANG application itself. In April 2025, the agency issued a solicitation for a modern, contractor-provided, cloud-hosted intelligence system, with the winning vendor responsible for migrating existing records off the legacy platform.14Government Navigator. DPS Solicitation RFO No. 405-24R0024616 A new platform will not, on its own, change the criteria for who ends up listed, who gets notified, or how a person can challenge a record; those questions sit with the legislature.