March 31, 2004

Mr. Mark G. Mann
Assistant City Attorney
City of Garland
P.O. Box 469002
Garland, Texas 75046-9002

OR2004-2575

Dear Mr. Mann:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 201514.

The City of Garland received a request for information regarding an assault by a juvenile. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 excepts from public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Section 552.101 encompasses confidentiality provisions of section 58.007 of the Family Code. Under section 58.007, juvenile law enforcement records relating to conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 are confidential The relevant language of section 58.007(c) reads as follows:

(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.

The requested information involves criminal conduct by a juvenile that occurred after September 1, 1997. It does not appear that any of the exceptions in section 58.007 apply; therefore, the requested information is confidential pursuant to section 58.007(c) of the Family Code. You must withhold the information from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code.

We note that the submitted information includes a Warrant of Arrest and Detention. Article 15.26 states "[t]he arrest warrant, and any affidavit presented to the magistrate in support of the issuance of the warrant, is public information." Crim. Proc. Code art. 15.26.

Generally, juvenile law enforcement records must be withheld in their entirety under section 58.007. Thus, there is a conflict of laws between section 58.007 and article 15.26. However, where information falls within both a general and a specific statutory provision, the specific provision prevails over the general. See Cuellar v. State, 521 S.W.2d 277 (Tex.Crim.App.1975) (under well-established rule of statutory construction, specific statutory provisions prevail over general ones); Open Records Decision Nos. 598 (1991), 583 (1990), 451 (1986). We find that the public availability provision in article 15.26 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is more specific than the general confidentiality provision in section 58.007. Thus, article 15.26 more specifically governs the public availability of the submitted arrest warrant affidavit and prevails over the more general confidentiality provision in section 58.007. See Lufkin v. City of Galveston, 63 Tex. 437 (1885) (when two sections of an act apply, and one is general and the other is specific, then the specific controls); see also Gov't Code § 311.026 (where a general statutory provision conflicts with a specific provision, the specific provision prevails as an exception to the general provision).⁽¹⁾ Therefore, you must release the submitted Warrant of Arrest and Detention to the requestor.

In summary, we conclude (1) you must release the Warrant of Arrest and Detention under article 15.26 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and (2) the remaining information must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code. Because section 58.007 is dispositive, we do not address your other argument against disclosure.

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,

James L. Coggeshall
Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Division
JLC/seg
Ref: ID# 201514
Enc. Submitted documents

c: Mr. Julian Laroy Monton
5514 Wyrick Lane
Garland, Texas 75043
(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note that, for similar reasons, article 15.26 also prevails over section 261.201 of the Family Code, which makes information used or developed in an investigation of child abuse confidential.