April 1, 2008

Mr. Roy L. Cordes, Jr.

County Attorney

Fort Bend County

301 Jackson Street, Suite 728

Richmond, Texas 77469

OR2008-04268

Dear Mr. Cordes:

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# 306347.

The Fort Bend County Constable's Office (the "office") received a request for all mobile phone and e-mail records from county issued phones and computers from December 1, 2007 through January 10, 2008 pertaining to a named individual. You state that the requestor clarified his request to include e-mail records still maintained in the individual's inbox, sent box, and trash box for a specified period of time. See Gov't Code § 552.222(b) (stating that if information requested is unclear, governmental body may ask requestor to clarify or narrow request). You also inform us that the requestor has agreed to the redaction of account numbers, non-county e-mail addresses, and the named individual's personal family information. Accordingly, this type of information is not responsive to this request and we do not address its availability in this ruling. You state that you have released most of the information responsive to the revised request. You claim that the submitted 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.

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 that claims an exception to disclosure under section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why this exception is applicable to the information at issue. See id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state that the submitted information contains officer notes and research and that the release of this information could potentially interfere with the possible prosecution of the case. However, upon review of the submitted information, we find that you have failed to explain how the release of the e-mail listing the courses completed, education, exam results, award information, licenses and certifications, and service history of an unnamed officer, would interfere with the investigation of a crime. Thus, section 552.108(a)(1) is not applicable to the submitted information, and the office may not withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code.

We note that some of the submitted information includes a personal e-mail address that is excepted from disclosure under section 552.137 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ Section 552.137 excepts from disclosure "an e-mail address of a member of the public that is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental body" unless the member of the public consents to its release or the e-mail address is of a type specifically excluded by subsection (c). See Gov't Code § 552.137(a)-(c). The e-mail address at issue does not appear to be of a type specifically excluded by section 552.137(c). You do not inform us that a member of the public has affirmatively consented to the release of this e-mail addresses contained in the submitted materials. Therefore, the office must withhold the e-mail address we have marked under section 552.137 of the Government Code. The remaining information must be released to the requestor.

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,

Jessica J. Maloney

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JJM/jh

Ref: ID# 306347

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Mr. Wesley Martin

P.O. Box 61

Simonton, Texas 77476

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. The Office of the Attorney General will raise a mandatory exception on behalf of a governmental body, but ordinarily will not raise other exceptions. Open Records Decision Nos. 481 (1987), 480 (1987), 470 (1987).

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer