 Office of the ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG ABBOTT | |
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May 2, 2003 Ms. Julie Gannaway
OR2003-2972 Dear Ms. Gannaway: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 180471. The City of Bryan Police Department (the "department") received a request for fourteen categories of information concerning a named department officer. You inform us that the City of Bryan is releasing some of the responsive information to the requestor. You contend, however, that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 143.089 of the Local Government Code. We have considered your arguments and the submitted representative sample of information.(1) Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure "information deemed confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." This section encompasses information protected by other statutes. Section 143.089 of the Local Government Code contemplates two different types of personnel files, a police officer's civil service file that the police department is required to maintain, and an internal file that the police department may maintain for its own use. Local Gov't Code § 143.089(a), (g). Section 143.089(a) specifies certain types of information that must be contained in the civil service file; such records are not made confidential under section 143.089 and thus are subject to release under the Public Information Act (the "Act") unless one of the Act's exceptions to required public disclosure applies. See Local Gov't Code § 143.089(f); Open Records Decision No. 562 at 6 (1990). However, information maintained in a police department's internal file pursuant to section 143.089(g) is confidential and must not be released. City of San Antonio v. Texas Attorney General, 851 S.W.2d 946, 949 (Tex. App.--Austin 1993, writ denied). We understand that the City of Bryan is a civil service city under chapter 143 of the Local Government Code. You indicate that the submitted information is maintained in the department's internal file pursuant to section 143.089(g). Based on your representations and our review of the submitted information, we find that the submitted information is confidential pursuant to section 143.089(g) of the Local Government Code and must be withheld under section 552.101. Finally, you urge this office to issue a uniform opinion under section 552.011 of the Government Code that would allow police departments to withhold information in their personnel files under section 143.089(g) without continuing to request rulings from this office. Thus, we understand you to request a previous determination for information made confidential by section 143.089(g) of the Local Government Code. See Open Records Decision No. 673 at 7-8 (2001). We decline to issue such a previous determination at this time. 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 Dep't of Pub. 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, V.G. Schimmel
c: Mr. Cameron D. Reynolds
Footnotes 1. We assume that the "representative sample" of records submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent that those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |