 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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January 5, 2004 Mr. James L. Hall
OR2004-0022 Dear Mr. Hall: 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# 193560. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the "department") received a request for information related to a specific inmate. The request asks for a listing showing confinement dates in and out of the department's physical custody, copies all of the department's commitment data forms, and sentence begin dates, jail time credits, and jail dates for parole/mandatory supervision violations. You claim that some of the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.134 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.134 relates to information about inmates of the department and states in relevant part that, except as provided by section 552.029, information obtained or maintained by the department is not subject to the required disclosure if it is information about an inmate who is confined in a facility operated by or under a contract with the department. Section 552.029 makes the following inmate information subject to required disclosure: (1) the inmate's name, identification number, age, birthplace, physical description, or general state of health or the nature of an injury to or critical illness suffered by the inmate; (2) the inmate's assigned unit or the date on which the unit received the inmate, unless disclosure of the information would violate federal law relating to the confidentiality of substance abuse treatment; (3) the offense for which the inmate was convicted or the judgment and sentence for that offense; (4) the county and court in which the inmate was convicted; (5) the inmate's earliest or latest possible release dates; (6) the inmate's parole date or earliest possible parole date; (7) any prior confinement of the inmate by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or its predecessor; or (8) basic information regarding the death of an inmate in custody, an incident involving the use of force, or an alleged crime involving the inmate. The submitted documents consist of the relevant individual's parolee information detail form and commitment data form. Although the individual is no longer confined in one of the department's facilities, we conclude that section 552.134 applies because the submitted information is about an inmate. However, the forms include information, which you have highlighted, that is explicitly subject to required disclosure under section 552.029. The remaining information is not made subject to required disclosure under section 552.029 and therefore must be withheld under section 552.134. You ask whether the department is required to release the commitment data forms given that the same information also appears on the parolee information detail form. Although the information provided on the former substantially overlaps with information that is provided on the latter, the request specifically asks for the former inmate's commitment data form. Therefore, with the exception of the information protected by section 552.134, the commitment data form must be released to the requestor. 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, Steven W. Bartels
c: Ms. Valerie Johnson
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB:WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |