August 26, 2008

Mr. R. Kinley Hegglund, Jr.

Senior Assistant City Attorney

Office of the City Attorney

City of Wichita Falls

P.O. Box 1432

Wichita Falls, Texas 76307

OR2008-11775

Dear Mr. Hegglund:

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# 320171.

The City of Wichita Falls (the "city") received a request for the Wichita Falls Police Department (the "department") e-mail addresses of all sworn peace officers. You state that the city has released the Chief of Police's e-mail address. 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.

You assert that the submitted information, which consists of a list of the work e-mail addresses of sworn police officers of the department, is excepted from public disclosure under section 552.108(b)(1) of the Government Code. Section 552.108(b)(1) excepts from disclosure "[a]n internal record or notation of a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that is maintained for internal use in matters relating to law enforcement or prosecution . . . if: (1) release of the internal record or notation would interfere with law enforcement or prosecution." Gov't Code § 552.108(b)(1). Section 552.108(b) is intended to protect "information which, if released, would permit private citizens to anticipate weaknesses in a police department, avoid detection, jeopardize officer safety, and generally undermine police efforts to effectuate the laws of this State." City of Ft. Worth v. Cornyn, 86 S.W.3d 320, 327 (Tex. App.--Austin, 2002, no pet.).

You generally argue, and have provided an affidavit from the Police Chief that also argues, that release of the e-mail addresses at issue would interfere with the law enforcement duties of department officers and potentially place their lives at risk. However, upon review of the submitted arguments and the submitted information, we find that the city has not established that release of this information would interfere with law enforcement and crime prevention. Therefore, the city has failed to demonstrate how subsection 552.108(b)(1) is applicable to the information at issue. Accordingly, the city may not withhold any of the information at issue under section 552.108(b)(1). As you raise no further exceptions to disclosure, the submitted information must be released.

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). If the governmental body does not file suit over 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# 320171

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Mr. Brent Holt, CLU

215 East Rainbow Ridge Circle

The Woodlands, Texas 77381-3083

(w/o enclosures)

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