 Office of the ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG ABBOTT | |
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June 24, 2003 Mr. Cary L. Bovey
OR2003-4333 Dear Mr. Bovey: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 183267. The Llano Police Department (the "department"), which you represent, received a request for all police reports, including witness statements and confessions, relating to certain criminal charges against a named individual. You advise that you have released basic information relating to the individual's arrest. See Gov't Code § 552.108(c) (stating that basic information regarding crime not excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of Government Code; see also 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); Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information considered to be basic information, including detailed description of offense). You claim that the remaining requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.103, 552.108, and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and have reviewed the submitted information. You contend that the submitted police report is excepted from required public disclosure under section 552.108(a) as "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if: (1) release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime." Generally, a governmental body claiming section 552.108(a)(1) must reasonably explain, if the information does not supply the explanation on its face, how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See Gov't Code §§ 552.108(a)(1), (b)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You inform us that the submitted information pertains to a pending criminal prosecution. We therefore conclude that section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to this information. See Houston Chronicle, 531 S.W.2d at 186-87 (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases). However, in this instance, we believe that the requestor has a statutory right of access to some of the information at issue. Section 22.082 of the Education Code provides that "[t]he State Board for Educator Certification shall obtain from any law enforcement or criminal justice agency all criminal history record information that relates to an applicant for or holder of a certificate." Additionally, section 411.090 of the Government Code specifically grants a right of access for the State Board for Educator Certification (the "SBEC") to obtain criminal history record information ("CHRI") from the Department of Public Safety ("DPS"). Section 411.090 of the Government Code provides that (a) The State Board for Educator Certification is entitled to obtain from [DPS] any criminal history record information maintained by the department about a person who has applied to the board for a certificate under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code. Furthermore, pursuant to section 411.087 of the Government Code, an agency that is entitled to obtain CHRI from DPS is also authorized to "obtain from any other criminal justice agency in this state criminal history record information maintained by that [agency]." Gov't Code § 411.087(a)(2). CHRI consists of "information collected about a person by a criminal justice agency that consists of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations, and other formal criminal charges and their dispositions." Gov't Code § 411.082(2). In this instance, the requestor is a staff investigator with the SBEC and states that the SBEC is conducting an investigation of an individual who has applied for or currently holds educator credentials. The requestor specifically seeks "copies of all offense, incident, and investigative reports" regarding the named individual. We conclude that when read together, section 22.082 of the Education Code and sections 411.087 and 411.090 of the Government Code give the SBEC a statutory right of access to a portion of the requested information. See also Gov't Code § 411.082(2); cf. Brookshire v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist., 508 S.W.2d 675, 678-79 (Tex. Civ. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1974, no writ) (when legislature defines term in one statute and uses same term in relation to same subject matter in latter statute, later use of term is same as previously defined). Therefore, the department must release information from the submitted documents to this requestor that shows the type of allegation made and whether there was an arrest, information, indictment, detention, conviction, or other formal charges and their dispositions. See Open Records Decision No. 451 (1986) (specific statutory right of access provisions overcome general exceptions to disclosure under Open Records Act).(1) The remaining information that has not already been released may be withheld under section 552.108. As we are able to make this determination, we need not address your remaining arguments. 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, Kristen Bates
c: Mr. Scott Byram
Footnotes 1. This office has concluded that information may be transferred between governmental bodies that are subject to the Public Information Act without waiving exceptions to the public disclosure of that information or affecting its confidentiality. See Open Records Decision No. 655 at 8 (1997). Thus, the release of information by one agency to another agency is not a release to the public for the purposes of section 552.007 of the Government Code, which prohibits the selective disclosure of information. See id. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |