Administrative Review & Risk Management Division

Access to Courts

To ensure that offenders assigned to the correctional institutions operated, managed, or monitored by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) are provided their constitutional right of access to the courts, counsel and public officials, and that access is "adequate, effective, and meaningful" as required by state and federal law.

What is “access to courts”?

Although an offender’s right of access to courts is not clearly enumerated in the United States Constitution, over the years a series of court decisions, federal and state statutes have shaped and codified these rights. With the evolution of these rights came the mechanism to uphold and protect them from violation or denial. Consequently, the right of access to courts, such as submitting a petition or complaint to a court, is considered to be a fundamental right upon which all other constitutional and inherent rights are contingent.

Fundamentals of access to courts:

Every offender has the right of access to state or federal courts, legal counsel, public officials, and governmental agencies. Offenders may present any issue, including challenges to the legality of their confinement, redress for improper conditions of confinement, remedies for civil law problems, claims against correctional officials and other governmental authorities, and any other right protected by constitutional or statutory provisions, or by common law. Officers, employees, or agents of TDCJ shall not interfere with, harass, punish, or otherwise penalize any offender as a result of participation in litigation, either as a party or a witness, or for filing or threatening to file a lawsuit, grievance, appeal, or other complaint about prison conditions, official misconduct, or for discussing the same with others, or writing in accordance with agency rules and regulations to others about actual or potential legal action or other forms of grievance and complaint.

Law Library Management

The Access to Courts Department is a statewide program that provides services to, and for, all TDCJ offenders. All offenders are afforded some type of access to a meaningful law library that, at a minimum, contains self-help publications, pertinent case law, codes, rules, and fill-in-the-blank legal forms. Depending on the classification of the offender, he or she will either be given direct or indirect access to the law library. Offenders with direct law library access are afforded an opportunity to receive a minimum of 10 hours of access per week. Offenders with indirect law library access are delivered three items of legal research materials per day, on three alternating days per week to their housing location.

Attorney/Consular Official Access

Attorneys and their representatives have access to visit offenders, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. In addition, attorneys may also request telephone calls with their attorney clients. Consular officials are afforded the same rights and privileges as attorneys.

Attorney / Consular Forms

Additional Areas of Oversight:

Resolution of Step 2 Offender Grievances as signature authority, for any grievance that involves access to courts issues
Management of correspondence supplies and postage provided to qualified offenders
Notary service
Court Transcript Administration
Assist offenders with disabilities, such as those who are illiterate, monolingual, or other similar circumstances, in obtaining access to courts
Court video and telephone conferences
Offender subsequent storage qualification and issuance
Administration of Intra Law Library Loan Program
Assist offenders in gaining access to Parole Revocation Hearing audio tapes
Court certification of impoverishment
Acknowledgement of Paternity - assist offenders who seek to establish legal paternity of their biological offspring

Fiscal Year 2012 Statistics

523,689 Offender visits to law library sessions
265,258 Items of legal research material were delivered
22,992 Notary signatures were provided
286 Offender with offender legal visits were conducted
1,233 Attorney with offender phone calls were conducted
860 Court teleconference inquires via phone were conducted
124 Court teleconference inquires via video conference were conducted
4,766 Attorney visits were conducted
1,778 Attorney representative visits were conducted
105 depositions were conducted
51,839 Court forms were issued
4,024 Court certificates of impoverishment
38,324 telephone calls/emails processed by the ATC administrative office (e.g. judicial, attorneys, law enforcement, TDCJ officials, etc)

Access to Courts Publications

For more information

Frank Hoke
Offender Access to Courts, Counsel, and Public Officials Department
1060 Hwy 190 E.
Huntsville, TX 77340
Phone: (936) 437-4816
Fax: (936) 437-4823
Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.