 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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January 5, 2006 Ms. Carol Longoria
OR2006-00161 Dear Ms. Longoria: 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# 239739. The University of Texas at Austin (the "university") received a request for a specified police report. You state that the university has released basic information from the report, along with the report narrative, booking sheet, and affidavit for warrant of arrest and detention. You claim that the remainder of the report is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code excepts from required public disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" A governmental body that claims an exception to disclosure under section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why this exception is applicable to the information that the governmental body seeks to withhold. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977); Open Records Decision No. 434 at 2-3 (1986). You advise that the submitted report is maintained by the university's police department. You also state that the report pertains to a criminal case that has been referred to the Travis County Attorney's Office, and that prosecution of the offense is currently pending. You assert that the release of this information at this time would interfere with that prosecution. Based on your representations, we find that section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable in this instance. See Open Records Decision Nos. 474 (1987), 372 (1983) (stating that section 552.108 may be invoked by any proper custodian of information that relates to an incident involving alleged criminal conduct that is still under active investigation or prosecution); 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) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases). Therefore, with the exception of basic information, which you have released, the university may withhold the submitted report pursuant to section 552.108 of the Government Code.(1) We note that you ask this office to issue the University of Texas System ("system") a previous determination allowing the system to withhold Texas motor vehicle driver's license, title, and registration information from disclosure under section 552.130 of the Government Code without the necessity of requesting an attorney general opinion. We decline to issue a previous determination to the system at this time. Accordingly, this letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us and may 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); 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 Office of the Attorney General 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. 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 A. Person III
c: Mr. Ahmed Farah
Footnotes 1. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining claimed exception to disclosure, except to note that basic information described in Houston Chronicle does not include information subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. See Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB:WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |