December 19, 2006

Mr. John C. West
General Counsel
Office of the General Inspector
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
P.O. Box 13084
Austin, Texas 78711

OR2006-14954

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# 267171.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Office of the Inspector General (the "OIG") received a request for witness statements from an investigation into an incident involving the requestor. You state that the OIG will release basic information and the requestor's statement to the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.108(c)(stating that basic information about arrested person, arrest, or crime may not be withheld under Gov't Code § 552.108); 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); Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108 and 552.134 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.134 of the Government Code. Section 552.134 relates to information about inmates and former inmates of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the "department") and provides the following:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or by Section 552.029, information obtained or maintained by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information about an inmate who is confined in a facility operated by or under a contract with the department.

Gov't Code § 552.134. You inform us that the submitted records contain information pertaining to inmates who are confined in facilities operated by the department. Based on this representation and our review, we agree that this information is subject to section 552.134. Furthermore, after reviewing the information at issue, we conclude that none of it is subject to release under section 552.029 of the Government Code. Therefore, the submitted information must be withheld under section 552.134 of the Government Code. ⁽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); 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,

Shelli Egger

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

SE/sdk

Ref: ID# 267171

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Ms. Sandra K. Dickey

411 FM 1791 Road

Huntsville, Texas 77340

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining argument against disclosure.

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