TEXAS BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLES
The primary responsibility of the General Counsel for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is to provide legal opinions, advice and counsel to the Board.
The General Counsel’s Office (GCO) provides advice and counsel to the Board on questions of law and policy matters in the areas of Board parole decisions, revocations of parole and mandatory supervision, clemency, ethics, rulemaking under the Administrative Procedures Act, the Open Meetings Law and the Public Information Act. This includes drafting legal opinions and requesting opinions from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) about the Public Information Act. The GCO responds to subpoena requests and expunctions. The GCO also provides legal advice and counsel for appeals after a revocation or certain imposition of sex offender conditions.
After a decision to revoke parole or mandatory supervision, the offender has the right to submit a Motion to Reopen the revocation hearing. Board rules require that a written request to reopen be submitted within 60 days of the revocation decision.
An offender who has not been convicted of a sex offense and is on supervision has the right to have a hearing prior to the imposition of sex offender conditions. After a sex offender condition hearing, the offender has the right to submit a Motion to Reopen the sex offender condition hearing. Board rules require that a written request to reopen be submitted within 30 days of the imposition of a sex offender condition decision.
The Board is considered a criminal justice agency and, as such, routinely receives court orders requesting the Board to redact certain criminal justice related information from the Board’s records. The GCO staff will receive, review, verify and redact arrest records pursuant to the court’s order.
The GCO works closely with the OAG on civil litigation matters and acts as a liaison between the Board and the OAG. The main litigation functions provided by the GCO are: advising the OAG on BPP policy; assisting with responses to discovery; preparing employees to serve as witnesses, and monitoring the progress of all litigation.
Updated 02/13/2017
