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Office of the Attorney General - State of Texas John Cornyn |
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June 18, 2002 Lt. Arturo Valdez
OR2002-3302 Dear Lt. Valdez: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 164441. The McAllen Police Department (the "department") received a request for information relating to 10 specified case numbers. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you raise and have reviewed the information you submitted. We first note that report number 99-042086, which you have submitted, does not correspond to any of the case numbers that are listed in the request for information. Thus, report number 99-042086 is not responsive to this request for information, and this decision is not applicable to that report. We also note that the requestor seeks information relating to case number 00-5264. However, the department has not submitted any responsive information. Therefore, unless the department has already released information that relates to case number 00-5264, it must do so at this time. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301, .302; Open Records Decision No. 664 (2000). Next, we must consider whether one of the submitted reports is confidential under section 552.101 of the Government Code.(1) Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." This exception encompasses information that another statute makes confidential. Section 58.007 of the Family Code provides in part: (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be: (1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records; (2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and (3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapter B. Fam. Code § 58.007(c). Section 58.007(c) is applicable to records of juvenile conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. See Act of June 2, 1997, 75th Leg., R.S., ch. 1086, §§ 20, 55(a), 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4179, 4187, 4199; Open Records Decision No. 644 (1996). The juvenile must have been at least 10 years old and less than 17 years of age when the conduct occurred. See Fam. Code § 51.02(2) (defining "child" for purposes of title 3 of Family Code). Report number 00-030010 relates to conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 and to a person who was 16 years old on the date of the conduct. Therefore, report number 00-030010 is excepted from disclosure in its entirety under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code. With regard to the rest of the submitted information, we now address the department's claim under section 552.108 of the Government Code. Section 552.108(a)(1) excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" A governmental body that raises section 552.108 must reasonably explain, if the requested information does not supply an explanation on its face, how and why section 552.108 is applicable to that information. See Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977); Open Records Decision No. 434 at 2-3 (1986). You have submitted eight other offense reports. You indicate that each of these reports relates to an ongoing investigation. You assert that the release of these reports would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. Based on your representations, we find that you have shown that section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to the remaining information. See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. 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) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases). We note, however, that section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic front-page information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. The department must release basic information, including a detailed description of the offense, with respect to each of the remaining reports, even if this information does not literally appear on the front page of the report. See Houston Chronicle, 531 S.W.2d at 186-87; Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing the types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). The department may withhold the rest of the information in the remaining eight reports under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. In summary, report number 00-030010 is excepted from disclosure in its entirety under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code. The department may withhold the remaining eight reports under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code, but must release basic information under section 552.108(c). 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, James W. Morris, III
c: Mr. Damin Orozco
Footnotes 1. Unlike other exceptions to disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code, we will raise section 552.101 on behalf of a governmental body, because chapter 552 prescribes criminal penalties for the release of confidential information. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007, .352; Open Records Decision No. 325 (1982). POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |