 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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April 1, 2009 Mr. David K. Walker Montgomery County Attorney 207 West Phillips 1st Floor Conroe, Texas 77301 OR2009-04262 Dear Mr. Walker: 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# 343237 (No. 2009-0749). The Montgomery County Sheriff's Department (the "department") received a request for information relating to a specified case involving a named individual. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the information you submitted. 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. This exception encompasses information that other statutes make confidential. Section 58.007 of the Family Code provides in part: (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 Subchapters 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); see id. § 51.03(a)-(b) (defining "delinquent conduct" and "conduct indicating need for supervision" for purposes of Fam. Code tit. 3). Section 58.007(c) is applicable to records of juvenile conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. See Act of June 2, 1997, 75th Leg., R.S., ch. 1086, §§ 20, 55(a), 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4179, 4187, 4199; Open Records Decision No. 644 (1996). 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. The submitted information involves two juvenile offenders and thus is confidential under section 58.007(c) of the Family Code. In this instance, however, the requestor is a parent of one of the juveniles involved. The requestor has a right to inspect law enforcement records concerning his child pursuant to section 58.007(e). See id. § 58.007(e). However, any personally identifiable information concerning the other juvenile offender must be redacted pursuant to section 58.007(j)(1). See id. § 58.007(j)(1). For the purposes of section 58.007(j)(1), a juvenile suspect or offender is a child as defined by section 51.02 of the Family Code. See id. § 51.02(2) ("child" means a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age). Moreover, section 58.007(j)(2) provides that information subject to any other exception to disclosure under the Act or other law must also be redacted. See id. § 58.007(j)(2). Accordingly, we will address your claim under section 552.108 of the Government Code. Section 552.108 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 must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You inform us, and have provided an affidavit stating, that the submitted information is related to a pending criminal prosecution. Based on your representation and the submitted affidavit, we conclude that section 552.108(a)(1) is generally applicable to the submitted information. 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). We note, however, that the submitted information includes a citation. Because a copy of the citation has been provided to the individual who was cited, we find that release of the citation will not interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Therefore, the sheriff may not withhold the citation under section 552.108(a)(1). We also note that section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Id. § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic front-page information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88. The sheriff must release basic information, including a detailed description of the offense, even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. See Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). However, pursuant to section 58.007(j)(1) of the Family Code, the sheriff must not release the name, address, telephone number, and driver's license number of the juvenile offender who is not the requestor's child. The sheriff may withhold the rest of the submitted information, with the exception of the citation, under section 552.108(a)(1). Lastly, we note that the citation contains Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information. Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit or a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state. (2) See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). The sheriff must withhold the Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information that we have marked under section 552.130. In summary: (1) except for the marked Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information, which the sheriff must withhold under section 552.130 of the Government Code, the submitted citation must be released; and (2) the sheriff may withhold the rest of the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code, except for the basic information that must be released under section 552.108(c). (3) Pursuant to section 58.007(j)(2) of the Family Code, the sheriff must not release the name, address, telephone number, and driver's license number of the juvenile offender who is not the requestor's child. 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, James W. Morris, III Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division JWM/cc Ref: ID# 343237 Enc: Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures) Footnotes1. Unlike other exceptions to disclosure, this office will raise section 552.101 on behalf of a governmental body, because the Act prescribes criminal penalties for the release of confidential information. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007, .352; Open Records Decision No. 325 at 2 (1982). 2. Unlike other exceptions to disclosure under the Act, this office will raise section 552.130 on behalf of a governmental body, as this exception is mandatory and may not be waived. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007, .352; Open Records Decision No. 674 at 3 n.4 (2001) (mandatory exceptions). 3. We note that the submitted information includes an arrested person's social security number. Section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact a living person's social security number from public release without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office under the Act.
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