Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Office of the General Counsel
Sharon Felfe Howell
General Counsel
The Office of the General Counsel provides competent legal services in a timely manner.
- Program Summary
- Legal Affairs
- Litigation Support
- Program Administration
- Publications
- Organizational Charts
Program Summary
The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) has three sections: Legal Affairs, Litigation Support, and Program Administration. Attorneys oversee the Legal Affairs and Litigation Support sections, while a program supervisor manages the Program Administration section.
Legal Affairs
The Legal Affairs section provides advice and counsel to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) regarding victim’s rights; employment law; purchasing, contracts, and real estate; and offender health care, sentence time calculation, parole, and community supervision matters. This section drafts formal and informal legal opinions for the TDCJ as requested. Attorneys in Legal Affairs provide advice about the Public Information Act, and seek opinions and rulings from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) when necessary. They provide legal support regarding subpoena requests and expunctions and renditions. This section also helps the OAG obtain documentation for federal habeas corpus litigation, and reviews affidavits in response to state writs of habeas corpus.
Litigation Support
The Litigation Support section acts as the liaison between the TDCJ and the OAG, and provides litigation support to the OAG. The Litigation Support section tracks and reviews all important lawsuits when the TDCJ or its employees are named defendants. Most of these cases involve tort, employment, or civil rights offender litigation. Attorneys in this section are involved with discovery and records production, answer interrogatories, coordinate trial and expert witnesses, and participate in mediations and settlements.
Program Administration
The Program Administration section is responsible for the overall administrative support of the OGC including fiscal management; divisional human resource support; the preparation of OGC policies and procedures; case management; and records retention and storage. The Program Administration section processes claims for damages involving the TDCJ’s property and schedules video teleconferences for the offenders’ legal proceedings.
Contact Information:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Office of the General Counsel
Sharon Felfe Howell, General Counsel
209 West 14th Street, Suite 500
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 463-9899