Winter 2026

The Voice for Inmates

Counsel Substitutes

Everyone has the right to due process – the right to gather evidence, present their case and attempt to showcase their innocence. What about when they’re an inmate, and are told when and where they can and can’t go, and who they can and can’t talk to? How is a person expected to defend themselves when they can’t gather their own evidence. The inmates need help, and that comes from the counsel substitute.

“Counsel substitutes are advocates for the inmates’ rights within the prison system,” said Hannah Abbott, a counsel substitute at the Torres Unit in Hondo.

When an inmate is served a disciplinary, it can either be minor or major. The minor disciplinaries are usually managed by the correctional staff, but when they are served a major disciplinary, the counsel substitute comes to assist. They start by receiving the disciplinaries from the staff, and they are the ones who inform the inmates of the impending disciplinary. At that moment, the inmates are welcome to make a statement in defense, and the counsel substitute becomes the voice of the inmate.

“They will obtain additional statements, witness statements and documentation that is needed for the case,” said Megan Lewandowski, the program supervisor over the Counsel Substitute Department. “The inmate’s request it, and it’s the counsel substitute’s responsibility to go get it.”

The evidence can also include things such as surveillance camera footage and even bring in witnesses, such as an officer or other staff.

After the evidence is gathered, the next step is the disciplinary hearing. The case is read, and then the inmate can decide to defend him or herself through the counsel substitute. While it might seem as though the counsel substitute is a defense attorney, they are not.

“Counsel substitutes are not the enemy nor are we the savior,” Abbott said. “We’re here to make sure that whatever happens in here, it’s a fair situation.”

They are simply a voice for the inmate by showing the evidence that the inmate requested while also being their advocate.

“During mitigation, when it is time for me to speak on behalf of the inmate, I’m going to ask for leniency,” Abbott said. “I’m not defending, but if found guilty I will ask for leniency.”

While this plays out, a disciplinary hearing officer (DHO) will make the final decision whether the inmate is guilty, or not of the disciplinary.

The DHO acts as a fact finder or, going back to the court analogy, a judge.

The Counsel Substitute Department works through a little over 200,000 disciplinaries a year, which, assuming the department is fully staffed, equals about 150 grievances a month for each counsel substitute.

The actual total assigned every month for each counsel substitute fluctuates on many factors, including the size of the unit. While the bigger units get the more disciplinaries, the smaller units are always willing to help the bigger units and that is where the department shines and shows their teamwork.

The role of the counsel substitute is very important, not only in ensuring in-house disciplinaries are fair.

By policy and legally the agency must allow the due process to ensure.

“Counsel substitutes are important to assist in that balance and keeping it fair,” Abbott said. “The agency must give the inmates a chance to defend themselves in a fair hearing, before any sanctions or punishments been given,” added Lewandowski.

As part of our agency mission, we strive to promote positive change in offender behavior and reintegrate offenders into society. Providing clear, organized and consistent procedures for participating in major disciplinary investigations demonstrates to staff and inmates alike that TDCJ is committed to its mission, to supporting staff and to assuring inmates that they have a voice in the disciplinary process and in their own opportunities for positive change for when they release back to their communities.