 Office of the ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG ABBOTT | |
|
June 17, 2003 Mr. Edward Lewallen
OR2003-4167 Dear Mr. Lewallen: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 183081. The Parker County Juvenile Probation Department (the "Department") received a request for copies of "[a]ll documents pertaining to PID # 3509." You assert the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have reviewed the information you submitted and we have considered the exception you claim. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." This section encompasses information protected by other statutes, such as section 58.007 of the Family Code. Section 58.007 states in pertinent part: (b) Except as provided by Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, the records and files of a juvenile court, a clerk of court, a juvenile probation department, or a prosecuting attorney relating to a child who is a party to a proceeding under [the Juvenile Justice Code] are open to inspection only by: (1) the judge, probation officers, and professional staff or consultants of the juvenile court; (2) a juvenile justice agency as that term is defined by Section 58.101; (3) an attorney for a party to the proceeding; (4) a public or private agency or institution providing supervision of the child by arrangement of the juvenile court, or having custody of the child under juvenile court order; or (5) with leave of the juvenile court, any other person, agency, or institution having a legitimate interest in the proceeding or in the work of the court. Fam. Code § 58.007(b) (emphasis added). You explain the Department generates and assigns a "personal identification number" or "PID" to each juvenile case referred to the Department. Additionally, you inform us that the responsive information concerns a juvenile who is a party to a proceeding under the Juvenile Justice Code. Further, you advise us that the requestor is not one of the persons or entities authorized to access this information. Therefore, based on your representations and our review of the submitted documents, we conclude the requested information is confidential pursuant to section 58.007(b) of the Family Code. Accordingly, the Department must withhold the requested information, in its entirety, under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007(b) of the Family Code. 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, Christen Sorrell
c: Ms. Mary Aldaco
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |