 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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February 9, 2009 Mr. Mack Reinwand Police Legal Division Arlington Police Department P.O. Box 1065 Arlington, Texas 76004-1065 OR2009-01652 Dear Mr. Reinwand: 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# 336817 (APD ID# 2008-12-073). The Arlington Police Department (the "department") received a request for report number 080084918. 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 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." (1) Gov't Code § 552.101. Section 552.101 encompasses information protected by other statutes, such as section 58.007 of the Family Code. Juvenile law enforcement records relating to conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 are confidential under section 58.007. For purposes of section 58.007, "child" means a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age. See Fam. Code § 51.02(2). The submitted incident report involves juvenile conduct that occurred after September 1, 1997. Therefore, section 58.007 is applicable to the submitted information. We note, however, that the requestor is the mother of the juvenile suspect. Under section 58.007(e), the requestor may inspect law enforcement records concerning her own child. Fam. Code § 58.007(e). However, section 58.007(j) states that information subject to any other exception to disclosure under the Act or other law must also be redacted. Id. § 58.007(j)(2). Accordingly, we will consider your argument against disclosure regarding the submitted police report. The department asserts that the submitted report is excepted under section 552.108 of the Government Code. Section 552.108(a) excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if: (1) release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Generally, 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 Gov't Code §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state that the requested offense report relates to a pending criminal investigation. Based upon this representation, we conclude that the release of the offense report 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. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases). However, we note that 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 front-page information held to be public in Houston Chronicle, 531 S.W.2d 177. The department must release basic information, including a detailed description of the offense and arrest information, even if this information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. See Houston Chronicle, 531 S.W.2d at 186-88; Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). In summary, with the exception of basic information, the department may withhold the submitted police report under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. This letter ruling is limited to the particular information 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 information or any other circumstances. This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General at (512) 475-2497. Sincerely, Karen E. Stack Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division KES/jb Ref: ID# 336817 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures)
1. The Office of the Attorney General will raise a mandatory exception like section 552.101 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 |