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Office of the Attorney General - State of Texas John Cornyn |
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May 16, 2002 Ms. Jan Clark
OR2002-2614 Dear Ms. Clark: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 162961. The Houston Police Department (the "department") received a written request for all incident reports pertaining to certain addresses during a specified time period. You have submitted to this office as responsive to the request six incident reports. You state that the department has released some responsive information to the requestor. You contend, however, that other requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.108 of the Government Code. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." One of the offense reports at issue, No. 160784100, pertains to an investigation of alleged child abuse. Section 261.201(a) of the Family Code provides as follows: (a) The following information is confidential, is not subject to public release under Chapter 552, Government Code, and may be disclosed only for purposes consistent with this code and applicable federal or state law or under rules adopted by an investigating agency: (1) a report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect made under this chapter and the identity of the person making the report; and (2) except as otherwise provided in this section, the files, reports, records, communications, and working papers used or developed in an investigation under this chapter or in providing services as a result of an investigation. Incident Report Number 160784100 clearly comes within the ambit of section 261.201, and none of that section's release provisions apply in this instance. Accordingly, the department must withhold this report in its entirety pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code. You also contend that the remaining records at issue are excepted from disclosure under either subdivision 552.108(a)(1) or 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code. Section 552.108(a)(1) generally applies to information held by law-enforcement agencies that pertains to pending criminal investigations or prosecutions. Based on your representation that Incident Report Numbers 014197002 and 014271702 relate to pending criminal investigations, we conclude that you have met your burden of demonstrating the applicability of section 552.108(a)(1) to those reports. The department therefore may withhold most of the information contained in those records pursuant to section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. Section 552.108(a)(2) protects law-enforcement records that pertain to criminal investigations and prosecutions that have concluded in a result other than a criminal conviction or deferred adjudication. You contend that Incident Report Nos. 029839801, 029189900, and 165886099 are excepted from public disclosure pursuant to section 552.108(a)(2) because no criminal charges were brought in connection with those investigations, which have been completed without an arrest. Based on your representations and our review of the documents, we conclude that the department may withhold most of information contained in these three offense reports pursuant to section 552.108(a)(2). Section 552.108 does not, however, except from required public disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(c). This provision requires the release of "basic information" in accordance with Houston Chronicle Publishing Company v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). Consequently, the department must release to the requestor all basic information from Incident Report Nos. 014197002, 014271702, 029839801, 029189900, and 165886099. 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. We note that a third party may challenge this ruling by filing suit seeking to withhold information from a requestor. Gov't Code § 552.325. 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, W. Montgomery Meitler
c: Ms. Marilyn Bowers
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |