 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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May 26, 2005 Mr. John West
OR2005-04625 Dear Mr. West: 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# 225032. The Office of the Inspector General for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the "OIG") received a request for information related to a particular OIG investigation. You state that you will release the basic information regarding the requested case file number. See Gov't Code § 552.029 (notwithstanding section 508.313, eight categories of information must be released about an inmate who is confined in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice). You claim that the submitted 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 of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information that another statute makes confidential. Section 508.313 of the Government Code provides in part: (a) All information obtained and maintained, including a victim protest letter or other correspondence, a victim impact statement, a list of inmates eligible for release on parole, and an arrest record of an inmate, is confidential and privileged if the information relates to: (1) an inmate of the institutional division [of the Department of Criminal Justice] subject to release on parole, release to mandatory supervision, or executive clemency; (2) a releasee; or (3) a person directly identified in any proposed plan of release for an inmate. Gov't Code § 508.313(a). You state that the submitted information relates to a former releasee. After reviewing your arguments and the submitted information, we agree that most of the submitted information relates to the former releasee. Thus, this information is confidential under section 508.313. Because we find that none of the release provisions of section 508.313 apply in this instance, the information we have marked must be withheld under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 508.313 of the Government Code. The remaining information pertains solely to the requestor. Since you have not demonstrated that this information relates to the releasee, it must be released.(1) 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, upon receiving this ruling, the governmental body will either release the public records promptly pursuant to section 552.221(a) of the Government Code or file a lawsuit challenging this ruling pursuant to section 552.324 of the Government Code. If the governmental body fails to do one of these things, 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); Tex. 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, Jaclyn N. Thompson
c: Mr. Michael Maldonado
Footnotes 1. Some of the information subject to release would generally be withheld from the public under laws and exceptions designed to protect the requestor's privacy. We emphasize that if the OIG receives a future request for this information from an individual other than the requestor or the requestor's authorized representative, the OIG should again seek our decision. |