January 30, 2008

Mr. Jim B. Simpson

Assistant County Attorney

Johnson County

204 South Buffalo Avenue, Suite 410

Cleburne, Texas 76033-5404

OR2008-01400

Dear Mr. Simpson:

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# 300854.

The Johnson County Sheriff's Office (the "sheriff") received a request for (1) all 9-1-1 calls made to the sheriff, (2) the offense report, (3) the name and condition of a specified injured juvenile, (4) the hometown and condition of a named injured juvenile, and (5) any other documents pertaining to a specified shooting incident. You state you have provided the requestor with some of the requested information. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.103, 552.108, and 552.114 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes, such as section 58.007 of the Family Code, which makes confidential juvenile law enforcement records relating to conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. The relevant language of section 58.007 reads:

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be:

(1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records;

(2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and

(3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapter B.

Fam. Code. § 58.007(c). Section 58.007(c) is not applicable to information that relates to a juvenile as a complainant, victim, witness, or other involved party, and not as a suspect or offender. You claim the submitted information is confidential under section 58.007 because it involves one or more juvenile offenders. After reviewing the submitted police report and supporting documents, however, we find that the information does not involve any identified juveniles as suspects or offenders. Therefore, we conclude that the submitted information is not confidential under section 58.007 and may not be withheld from disclosure under section 552.101.

Section 552.108(a)(1) 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] release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). 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 the submitted police report and supporting documents relate to an active criminal investigation. Based on this representation and our review, we conclude that the release of this information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See 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., 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases).

However, section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88. Thus, with the exception of basic information, which includes a detailed description of the offense and arrest information, the sheriff may withhold the submitted information pursuant to section 552.108(a)(1). See Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address the applicability of your remaining claims against disclosure, except to note that basic information held to be public in Houston Chronicle is generally not excepted from public disclosure under section 552.103 of the Government Code. Open Records Decision No. 597 (1991).

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,

Leah B. Wingerson

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

LBW/ma

Ref: ID# 300854

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Ms. Cynthia Neff

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

P.O. Box 915006

Fort Worth, Texas 76115

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note that you did not raise section 552.114 as an exception to disclosure within ten business days of the date the sheriff received the present request. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(b), .302. However, because section 552.114 is a mandatory exception that can provide a compelling reason to withhold information from disclosure, we will consider your claim under section 552.114. See id.; see also Open Records Decision Nos. 150 at 2 (1977), 319 (1982).

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