Investigations Division

The Investigations Division of the Collin County Criminal District Attorney’s Office is staffed by twenty-four criminal investigators, two of whom are also supervisors.  Each investigator is experienced and commissioned as a peace officer within the State of Texas.  Many have been trained in specific job-related specialties such as fingerprint comparison, handwriting analysis, computer forensics, and fraud detection.  Many are licensed instructors in law enforcement subjects such as firearms, investigation procedures, management, and supervision.

The criminal investigators are assigned to a trial team or specialized division within the District Attorney’s Office.  An investigator’s primary duty is to support his or her designated trial team or specialized division in the prosecution of criminal cases.  Some investigators also help local business owners and other individuals recover financial losses from the passing of fraudulent checks.  On a daily basis, the investigators work with representatives from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to fight crime and protect the citizens of Collin County.

Mike Smith, Chief Investigator, began his law enforcement career in 1980 as a deputy sheriff for the Smith County Sheriff's Office in Tyler, Texas. He worked as a deputy sheriff while majoring in criminal justice at Tyler Junior College. In 1982, he joined the Texas Department of Public Safety and after completion of the training academy was assigned to Collin County as a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper. While employed by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Chief Smith served as a trooper in the Highway Patrol Service and the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Service and as an investigator in the Regulatory Crimes Bureau. Chief Smith served his last six years performing administrative and criminal investigations for the Texas Department of Public Safety, where he was responsible for six counties in North Texas. After twenty-nine years of service with DPS, Chief Smith retired in order to accept his current position with the Collin County Criminal District Attorney's Office as Chief Investigator.

Mike Smith - Ext. 4416; mgsmith@co.collin.tx.us

Matt Langan, Deputy Chief Investigator, graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1993 with his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. From 1998 to 2001, Deputy Chief Langan was employed by the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and worked as a Special Agent in the Washington, D.C. and Detroit, Michigan field divisions. He left the DEA in 2001 to accept a position as a Sgt. Investigator in the Public Integrity Unit (PIU) of the Travis County District Attorney's Office. In 2004, he was promoted to Lt. Investigator, where his responsibilities included supervising the Sgt. Investigators assigned to the General Investigations, Insurance Fraud, and Motor Fuels Tax Fraud Sections of the PIU. Deputy Chief Langan left the Travis County District Attorney's Office at the end of 2010 to accept a position as Deputy Chief Investigator with the Collin County Criminal District Attorney's Office, where his responsibilities include supervising the twenty-two investigators assigned throughout the Office.

Matt Langan - Ext. 4343; mlangan@co.collin.tx.us