 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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September 13, 2006 Ms. Julie B. Ross
OR2006-10665 Dear Ms. Ross: 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# 259090. The City of Weimar (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for all F-5 forms from the city police department for the past 10 years. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.117 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and have reviewed the information you submitted.(1) 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. The submitted form F-5's (Report of Separation of Licensee) are subject to section 1701.454 of the Occupations Code. Under section 1701.452 of the Occupations Code, a law enforcement agency must submit a report to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education ("TCLEOSE") regarding a person licensed under chapter 1701 of the Occupations Code who resigns from the employment of the law enforcement agency or whose appointment with the law enforcement agency is terminated. See Occ. Code § 1701.452. Section 1701.454 of the Occupations Code provides as follows: (a) A report or statement submitted to the commission under this subchapter is confidential and is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, unless the person resigned or was terminated due to substantiated incidents of excessive force or violations of the law other than traffic offenses. (b) Except as provided by this subchapter, a commission member or other person may not release the contents of a report or statement submitted under this subchapter. Id. § 1701.454; see also 37 T.A.C. § 217.7 (reporting appointment and termination of licensee).(2) You have submitted an affidavit in which the city's chief of police states that the police department has not terminated an officer or had an officer resign in the past ten years due to substantiated incidents of excessive force or violations of the law other than traffic offenses. See id. § 1701.454(a). Based on your arguments, the submitted affidavit, and our review of the submitted information, we conclude that the information is confidential under section 1701.454 of the Occupations Code and must be withheld from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code.(3) 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); 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 W. Morris, III
c: Mr. Bill Felts
Footnotes 1. This letter ruling assumes that the submitted "representative documents" are truly representative of the requested information as a whole. This ruling neither reaches nor authorizes the city to withhold any information that is substantially different from the submitted information. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(e)(1)(D), .302; Open Records Decision Nos. 499 at 6 (1988), 497 at 4 (1988). 2. You inform us that the requestor has already been provided with a copy of a Form F-5 pertaining to him that was filed with TCLEOSE earlier this year. See Occ. Code § 1701.452(b); 37 T.A.C. § 217.7(g). 3. As we are able to make this determination, we do not address your claim under section 552.117 of the Government Code. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB:WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |