January 25, 2002

Ms. Dori Yoder
City Secretary
City of Dayton Lakes
P.O. Box 1476
Dayton, Texas 77535

OR2002-0358

Dear Ms. Yoder:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 157731.

The City of Dayton Lakes received a request for "all bank and financial records from January 1994 to October 2001, all Police Department financial records, all fines levied by the Municipal Court, annual audits from January 1994 to October 2001, all F.E.M.A. records and minutes of all City Council meetings from May 1999 to October 2001."

We first address your failure to comply with section 552.301 of the Government Code. In particular, you have failed to comply with the following requirements of that provision: (1) state the applicable exceptions to disclosure; (2) provide to this office general written comments stating the reasons why the stated exceptions apply that would allow the information to be withheld, (3) provide this office with a copy of the written request for information, (4) provide this office with a signed statement or sufficient evidence showing the date the governmental body received the written request, and (5) provide this office with a copy of the specific information requested or representative samples, labeled to indicate which exceptions apply to which parts of the documents. See Gov't Code § 552.301(d), (e). You state that because the requested records are voluminous you did not send them to this office for review. While we understand that the records may indeed be voluminous, sending them to this office as part of requesting an attorney general decision is a legislative mandate and the fact that doing so is burdensome does not relieve a governmental body of its obligation. See Open Records Decision No. 497 (1988).

Pursuant to section 552.302 of the Government Code, a governmental body's failure to comply with the requirements of section 552.301 results in the legal presumption that the information is public and must be released. Information that is presumed public must be released unless a governmental body demonstrates a compelling reason to withhold the information to overcome this presumption. See Hancock v. State Bd. of Ins., 797 S.W.2d 379, 381-82 (Tex. App.--Austin 1990, no writ) (governmental body must make compelling demonstration to overcome presumption of openness pursuant to statutory predecessor to Gov't Code § 552.302); Open Records Decision No. 319 (1982). You have not shown such a compelling interest to overcome the presumption that the information at issue is public. Accordingly, you must release the requested information.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other records or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited from asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by filing suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar days. Id. § 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the governmental body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the attorney general have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id. § 552.321(a).

If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested information, the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the statute, the attorney general expects that, within 10 calendar days of this ruling, the governmental body will do one of the following three things: 1) release the public records; 2) notify the requestor of the exact day, time, and place that copies of the records will be provided or that the records can be inspected; or 3) notify the requestor of the governmental body's intent to challenge this letter ruling in court. If the governmental body fails to do one of these three things within 10 calendar days of this ruling, then the requestor should report that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at 877/673-6839. The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county attorney. Id. § 552.3215(e).

If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the requested information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental body. Id. § 552.321(a); Texas Department of Public Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408,411 (Tex. App.--Austin 1992, no writ).

Please remember that under the Act the release of information triggers certain procedures for costs and charges to the requestor. If records are released in compliance with this ruling, be sure that all charges for the information are at or below the legal amounts. Questions or complaints about over-charging must be directed to Hadassah Schloss at the Texas Building and Procurement Commission at 512/475-2497.

If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments about this ruling, they may contact our office. Although there is no statutory deadline for contacting us, the attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days of the date of this ruling.

Sincerely,

Kevin J. White
Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Division
KJW/seg
Ref: ID# 157731
Enc. Submitted documents

c: Mr. Bobby R. Quick
P.O. Box 486
Dayton, Texas 77535
(w/o enclosures)

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