 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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January 30, 2008 Mr. Robert L. Elliot City of Straford 501 Denrock Avenue Dalhart, Texas 79022 OR2008-01452 Dear Mr. Elliot: 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 #300776. The Stratford Police Department (the "department"), which you represent, received a request for all police reports pertaining to the requestor's three children from November 26, 2006 to the present. You state that you are releasing some information to the requestor. You claim that the submitted reports are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. 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 section encompasses information that other statutes make confidential. You raise section 552.101 in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code. Section 58.007 provides in pertinent part as follows: (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, D, and E. . . . (e) Law enforcement records and files concerning a child may be inspected or copied by a juvenile justice agency as that term is defined by Section 58.101, a criminal justice agency as that term is defined by Section 411.082, Government Code, the child, and the child's parent or guardian. . . . (j) Before a child or a child's parent or guardian may inspect or copy a record or file concerning the child under Subsection (e), the custodian of the record or file shall redact: (1) any personally identifiable information about a juvenile suspect, offender, victim, or witness who is not the child; and (2) any information that is excepted from required disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, or other law. Fam. Code § 58.007(c), (e), (j). We have reviewed the submitted information and find that some of the police reports involve allegations of juvenile conduct in violation of penal statutes that occurred after September 1, 1997. We note that, in order for section 58.007(c) to apply, the juvenile offender must have been at least 10 years old and less than 17 years of age when the conduct occurred. See id. § 51.02(2) (defining "child" for purposes of title 3 of Family Code). Upon review, only Exhibits D, E, H, J, K, and L constitute reports of criminal juvenile conduct for purposes of section 58.007. (1) Because none of the requestor's juvenile children are listed as suspects, offenders, or arrestees in the reports within Exhibits D, E, and K, these exhibits must be withheld in their entirety under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 58.007(c). (2) However, the requestor is the mother of juvenile suspects listed in the police reports contained within Exhibits H, J, and L. The department may not use section 58.007(c) to withhold these reports from this requestor. Id. § 58.007(e). However, section 58.007(j) states that the department may raise any other exceptions to disclosure under the Act or other law. Id. § 58.007(j)(2). Accordingly, we will address your remaining arguments regarding Exhibits H, J, and L, as well as the rest of the remaining information at issue. Section 552.108(a)(1) 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), 552.301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state that the police reports in Exhibits I, J, L, and M relate to pending criminal investigations. (3) Based on this representation and our review of the submitted documents, we conclude that the release of these reports would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime and that they may be withheld under section 552.108(a)(1). 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). Section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information concerning an investigation that concluded in a result other than conviction or deferred adjudication. Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(2). A governmental body claiming section 552.108(a)(2) must demonstrate that the requested information relates to a criminal investigation that has concluded in a final result other than a conviction or deferred adjudication. See id. § 552.301(e) (governmental body must provide comments explaining why exceptions raised should apply to information requested). You state that the police reports submitted as Exhibits C, F, and H relate to department investigations that concluded in results other than conviction or deferred adjudication. Based on your representations, we conclude that section 552.108(a)(2) is applicable to Exhibits C, F, and H. 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). Basic information refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). Thus, the department must release the basic front-page offense and arrest information from Exhibits C, F, H, I, J, L, and M. In releasing this basic information, the department must redact any information identifying other juvenile arrestees or complainants who are not the requestor's children. See Fam. Code § 58.007(j)(1). The department may withhold the remaining information from these exhibits under section 552.108. In summary, the department must withhold Exhibits D, E, and K under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code. Except for basic information, the department may withhold the remaining exhibits under section 552.108 of the Government Code. In releasing basic information, the department must redact any information identifying other juvenile arrestees or complainants who are not the requestor's children under section 58.007(j)(1) of the Family Code. (4) 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, Reg Hargrove Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division RJH/eeg Ref: ID# 300776 Enc. Submitted documents c: Ms. Deirdra Johnson P. O. Box 1017 Stratford, Texas 79084 (w/o enclosures)
1. We note that there was no "Exhibit G" included in the submitted information.
As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining argument against disclosure of
Exhibits D, E, and K.
We note that it appears that a narrative from Exhibit K was inadvertently submitted within Exhibit
I. We rule on this information, which we have marked, as part of Exhibit K rather than Exhibit I.
We note that because the requestor has a special right of access to some of the basic information in
this instance, the department must again seek a decision from this office if it receives another request for the
same information from another requestor. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |