Ken Crain -- the Sensible Choice for Williamson County Dist
Ken Crain is a very experienced attorney who has practiced law in Williamson County continuously since January 1985. He began working in Williamson County in January 1985 as a misdemeanor criminal prosecutor. He started his own private law practice in Georgetown in June 1986 and has been practicing law in Georgetown continuously ever since.
Pictured above: Ken in a Williamson County courtroom. Ken's law practice includes both criminal defense problems (felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic tickets) and family law (divorce, child custody, child support, child visitation, etc.). He also drafts Wills and probates estates. You can find out more about his law practice by visiting his law firm website at http://kencrainattorney.com/ .
Ken is a native Texan. He grew up in San Antonio in a large family. He was number six of eight children, with four brothers and three sisters. Ken's parents were married for 49 years before his mother passed away in 1994. Ken's dad passed away in 1999.
Ken's father served 23 years in the U.S. Army from 1938-1961. His father was a World War II veteran (European theater). Ken's father also served in Germany for four years (1949-1953) after the war as part of the allied occupation forces. Ken's father also spent a year in South Korea in 1955-56. Although Ken was an "Army brat," his parents lived off post in San Antonio exclusively after Ken was born at Fort Sam Houston so he did not get to do much traveling until he joined the U.S. Navy in July 1972 when he was 17. Ken started a four year program at the U.S. Naval Academy just six weeks after completing high school in San Antonio.
Ken's father retired from the U.S. Army in 1961 as a warrant officer. Ken's maternal grandfather, Ernest DeBell, served thirty years in the U.S. Army after emigrating from Germany in 1882. Ernest DeBell was a veteran of the Spanish American War in 1898. He was also a World War I veteran. He retired as a sergeant and he is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.
All six of Ken's uncles (five on his father's side and one on his mother's side of the family) were military veterans who served during and/or after World War II. Three of Ken's four brothers were military veterans, one brother served in the navy and two brothers served in the U.S. Air Force. Two of Ken's sisters are married to military veterans. Growing up in San Antonio, Ken spent a lot of time at Fort Sam Houston even though the family lived off post in San Antonio after Ken was born.
Ken was active in the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts while growing up and attained the rank of Eagle Scout. Starting at age eight or nine, Ken and all of his brothers also spent a great deal of time working for their father in his lawn care business in San Antonio when they were not attending school.
Ken spent twelve years in the public school system while growing up in San Antonio. He graduated from Sam Houston High School on the east side of San Antonio in 1972. Just six weeks after he finished high school, he joined the navy and started a four year college degree and officer commissioning program at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1976, with a B.S. in Marine Engineering. He received a commission as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy on graduation day. He served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from 1976 until 1981 as a surface warfare officer. He also served in the U.S. Navy Reserves from 1981 to 1987 in Austin, Texas, and left the navy as a lieutenant commander.
Pictured to the left: The destroyer USS Barry (DD-933). While on active duty in the U.S. Navy, Ken served as the damage control assistant (basically, the repair officer) on the destroyer USS Barry (DD-933) homeported in Mayport, Florida (near Jacksonville). Ken qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer while on the Barry. (This is roughly the equivalent to a submariner earning his dolphins or an aviator earning his wings.)
Pictured to the right: The nuclear powered cruiser USS California (CGN-36). After
leaving the destroyer Barry, Ken then served as the missile officer on the nuclear powered cruiser USS California (CGN-36) homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. The California was equipped with Tartar surface to air missiles. Harpoon surface to surface missiles were installed while Ken was the missile officer.
While on active duty in the U.S. Navy, Ken made several deployments to the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean and visited dozens of foreign ports. He made three trips to the Indian Ocean in 1979, 1980, and 1981. His first trip to the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf was in the summer of 1979 on the destroyer Barry, a few months after the Shah of Iran had been overthrown by the Islamic Revolution in Iran. His ship spent some time patrolling the Strait of Hormuz to ensure that the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz remained open for the safe passage of oil tankers and other commercial vessels.
Ken's second trip to the Indian Ocean was in the Spring of 1980 on the cruiser California. The carrier Nimitz and its task force had been sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the northern Arabian Sea in response to the seizure of American hostages in Iran in November 1979. The California was one of two nuclear powered cruisers providing protection and support to the USS Nimitz in the northern Arabian Sea. Several weeks after he became the missile officer on the California in March 1980, eight helicopters were launched from the deck of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) in an ill-fated attempt in April 1980 to rescue the 52 American hostages in Tehran. Ken made a third trip to the Indian Ocean in the Spring of 1981 on the California.
After leaving the active duty navy in the summer of 1981, Ken entered law school at the University of Texas Law School in Austin in August 1981 and graduated in May 1984. He took the Texas Bar Exam in July 1984 and passed the bar exam on his first attempt. He has been licensed to practice law in Texas since November 1984. He has been practicing law in Williamson County, Texas, continuously since January 1985, when he was hired by Billy Ray Stubblefield, the Williamson County Attorney at the time (and now a district judge in Williamson County), to be a misdemeanor criminal prosecutor.
Ken has spent his entire legal career in Williamson County. He was an Assistant County Attorney in Georgetown from January 1985 to June 1986. As an Assistant County Attorney, he prosecuted hundreds and hundreds of misdemeanor criminal cases, including Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), theft, theft by check, shoplifting cases, assaults, assault with family violence, driving while license suspended, public intoxication, reckless driving, traffic tickets, weapons offenses, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, minor in possession of alcohol, probation revocations, and many other kinds of misdemeanor cases.
Ken is a member of the Williamson County Bar Association, the Bell County Bar Association, the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and the State Bar of Texas. He is also a member of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. He is also a life member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and a member of the Austin chapter of the USNA Alumni Association. He is also a member of the Sun City Texas Democrats and the American Legion.
Ken and his wife, Micki, met when they were sophomores in high school in San Antonio. They started dating shortly before high school graduation. They were married in 1976, just ten days after Ken became a brand new Ensign in the United States Navy. Micki has a business degree from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos. Ken and Micki have one daughter, Dr. Allyn Crain, D.C., who is a successful chiropractor in Salado, Texas. Ken and Micki have resided in Georgetown since July 1985. Due to explosive growth over the past thirty years, Georgetown and Williamson County have seen many, many changes since Ken and Micki moved here in 1985.
In his spare time, Ken enjoys spending time with his family and friends. One of Ken's favorite activities currently is taking his daughter's dog, Reese, for his daily walk in the neighborhood. Reese is a shih tzu and he weighs all of ten pounds. Ken and Reese make quite a pair walking through the neighborhood daily.
Pictured above: Ken is shown donating red blood cells at the Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas in Wolf Ranch in Georgetown. Ken is a regular blood donor and has donated over 15 gallons (eight pints to the gallon) of blood over the past twenty years. (Does anyone know if they really need to get a special signed release from a recipient before they put "lawyer blood" into their body in a blood transfusion???) Ken encourages everyone to donate blood regularly if they are eligible to do so.
Ken is a lifelong Democrat, however, he does not believe that the winner in this district attorney race is going to be decided by traditional Democrat versus Republican issues. “I believe that most people in Williamson County want their felony prosecutors and the courts to be tough on violent criminals, sex offenders, and drunk drivers who can do great harm to the public. However, before you are tough on someone who has violated the law, the first thing you need to do is be absolutely certain that you are charging the right person. After you gather all the facts in the case, the next thing that a prosecutor should ask himself is whether or not this is a basically good person who has done a stupid thing or is this a truly bad person who needs to feel the full force of punishment that can be delivered by our justice system to a criminal defendant. Over the years I have seen some pretty decent people who have been over-punished by the Williamson County prosecutorial machine to the extent that they lose their jobs and lose any hope of becoming useful productive citizens any time soon.”
Ken believes that voters are ready for new leadership in our criminal justice system. “I am a Democrat running for District Attorney because the problems in the DA's office will require the leadership of a reformer, someone who hasn't been part of the broken system that has made our streets less safe, sent innocent people to prison and sought to suppress and cover up past prosecutorial misconduct. In the Michael Morton case, the current DA resisted and stonewalled DNA testing for several years until a Texas appeals court finally ordered that the bloody bandana be finally tested. The DNA results showed that Michael Morton was innocent and that the real killer had been left on the streets to roam freely and later murder another innocent woman in Travis County. Further investigation revealed to the public that the original prosecution of Michael Morton was severely flawed by hiding evidence from the defense team and by a premature focus on Michael Morton to the exclusion of any other possible killer. The Michael Morton case is a huge travesty of justice and the current DA played a large role in needlessly continuing the injustice.”
“I believe that there is a mature, rational, reasonable way to prosecute criminal defendants and, if appropriate, to make decisions not to prosecute a particular individual,” Ken said. “The prosecutor’s job is not to rack up as many convictions as possible; it is to see that justice is done. I will handle the duties of the district attorney's office in a non-partisan way, without regard to the political views or affiliations of anyone involved in felony cases."
"The ironic thing about this race is that my opponent, Jana Duty, who is a Republican, has a long history of creating conflicts with other local elected officials who are also Republicans. I am certain that I would get along better with other elected officials than Jana Duty would. I am not going to go out of my way to look for conflicts with other elected officials like Jana has for the past few years."
"In addition to having frequent battles with all five members of the commissioner's court, Jana has had frequent battles with the county court at law judges that the County Attorney's office (her current office) works with on a daily basis. Additionally, I have no plans to hand out pink slips to the current DA's staff if I am elected to serve as your district attorney. I believe that the overwhelming majority of the current DA's staff are hard working professionals who deserve to keep their jobs in order to better serve the Williamson County justice system. If you want the DA's office to be dysfunctional due to a large turnover of personnel in the office, you should support Jana Duty for this office.”
Political Ad Paid For by Ken Crain for District Attorney, PO Box 956, Georgetown, TX 78627-0956, John Duer, Attorney at Law, Treasurer