 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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July 18, 2007 Mr. Galen Gatten OR2007-09108 Dear Mr. Gatten: 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# 284174. The Midland Police Department (the "department") received a request for the "offender registration" of the requestor's husband. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Initially, we note that you have not submitted the requested offender registration for our review. A governmental body has a duty to make a good faith effort to relate a request for information to information that the governmental body holds. Open Records Decision No. 561 (1990). In this case, as you state that the submitted information is responsive to the request, we consider the department to have made a good faith effort to identify information that is responsive to the request. We will address the applicability of the claimed exception to the submitted information. Section 552.108 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if: (1) release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Generally, a governmental body claiming section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state that prosecution of the crime which forms the basis for the submitted information is pending. However, you have submitted a "Pre-Release Notification Form" for our review. The submitted information reflects that the crime which forms the basis for the submitted information has already been subject to disposition and the offender scheduled to be released. Upon review, we determine that the department has failed to demonstrate that the release of the submitted information will interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. Accordingly, the submitted information must be released to the requestor. (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, Kara A. Batey Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division KAB/mcf Ref: ID# 284174 Enc. Submitted documents c: Ms. Mary Reyes 505 West Eugene Avenue Midland, Texas 79705 (w/o enclosures)
1. We note that the submitted information contains a social security number. Section 552.147(b) of the
Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact a living person's social security number from
public release without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office under the Act. We note that the
requestor, as spouse of the individual whose information is at issue, has a right of access to her husband's social
security number if she is acting as his authorized representative. See generally Gov't Code § 552.023(b)
(governmental body may not deny access to person to whom information relates, or that person's representative,
solely on grounds that information is considered confidential by privacy principles). POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |