January 14, 2008

Mr. George E. Hyde

Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal

2517 North Main Avenue

San Antonio, Texas 78212

OR2008-00672

Dear Mr. Hyde:

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# 299579.

The Bandera County District Clerk (the "district clerk"), which you represent, received a request for a list of all excess proceeds from foreclosure sales that are held in the registry of the Bandera County District Court (the "district court"), including the amount of the proceeds, style of the case, cause number, and date of sale. You assert that the requested information is not subject to the Act. In the alternative, you claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.103 and 552.111 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

You state that the information at issue is collected, assembled, and maintained by the staff of the district clerk solely for and on behalf of the district court. Section 552.003(b) of the Government Code excludes the judiciary from the Act. Therefore, the Act neither authorizes information held by the judiciary to be withheld nor requires that it be disclosed. See Open Records Decision No. 25 (1974). Accordingly, the information at issue is not subject to public disclosure under the Act, and the Open Records Division does not have the authority to rule on records maintained by the judiciary. See Gov't Code § 552.0035 (access to information maintained by or for judiciary is governed by rules adopted by supreme court); Tex. R. Jud. Admin. 12 (public access to judicial records). ⁽¹⁾ As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining arguments against disclosure.

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 file suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full benefit of such a challenge, 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 challenge 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,

Jennifer Luttrall

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JL/eeg

Ref: ID# 299579

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Mr. Doran D. Peters

Hajjar Sutherland & Kelly LLP

504 Congress Avenue, Suite G-10

Austin, Texas 78701

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note that records of the judiciary may be public under other sources of law. See Gov't Code § 29.007(d)(4) (complaints filed with municipal court clerk); id. § 29.007(f) (municipal court clerks shall perform duties prescribed by law for county court clerk); Loc. Gov't Code § 191.006 (records belonging to office of county clerk shall be open to public unless access restricted by law or court order); see also Star-Telegram, Inc. v. Walker, 834 S.W.2d 54, 57 (Tex. 1992) (documents filed with courts are generally considered public and must be released); Attorney General Opinions DM-166 (1992) at 2-3 (public has general right to inspect and copy judicial records), H-826 (1976); Open Records Decision No. 25 (1974).

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