February 16, 2010

Ms. Katie Lentz

Open Records

Williamson County Sheriff's Office

508 South Rock Street

Georgetown, Texas 78626

OR2010-02283

Dear Ms. Lentz:

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# 370298.

The Williamson County Sheriff's Office (the "sheriff") received a request for stalking reports related to a named individual and three specified addresses. You claim that the requested information is 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 disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. Section 552.101 encompasses information made confidential by other statutes, including section 261.201 of the Family Code, which provides in relevant part:

(a) [T]he following information is confidential, is not subject to public release under [the Act] and may be disclosed only for purposes consistent with this code and applicable federal or state law or under rules adopted by an investigating agency:

(1) a report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect made under this chapter and the identity of the person making the report; and

(2) except as otherwise provided in this section, the files, reports, records, communications, audiotapes, videotapes, and working papers used or developed in an investigation under this chapter or in providing services as a result of an investigation.

. . .

(k) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an investigating agency, other than the [Texas Department of Family and Protective Services] or the Texas Youth Commission, on request, shall provide to the parent, managing conservator, or other legal representative of a child who is the subject of reported abuse or neglect, or to the child if the child is at least 18 years of age, information concerning the reported abuse or neglect that would otherwise be confidential under this section. The investigating agency shall withhold information under this subsection if the parent, managing conservator, or other legal representative of the child requesting the information is alleged to have committed the abuse or neglect.

Fam. Code § 261.201(a), (k). Upon review, we find that the information you have marked consists of reports of alleged or suspected child abuse made under chapter 261. See id. § 261.001(1) (defining "abuse" for purposes of Fam. Code ch. 261); id. § 101.003(a) (defining "child" as a person under eighteen years of age who is not and has not been married and who has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes). We note that the requestor is a parent of the child victims listed in the reports. However, the requestor is alleged to have committed the suspected abuse. Therefore, the information you have marked falls within the scope of section 261.201(a), and the requestor does not have a right of access under section 261.201(k). You do not indicate that the sheriff has adopted a rule governing the release of this type of information. Accordingly, we assume no such rule exists. Given that assumption, we conclude that the sheriff must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 261.201 of the Family Code. ⁽¹⁾ See Open Records Decision No. 440 at 2 (1986) (construing statutory predecessor to section 261.201).

You raise section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code for the remaining information. Section 552.108(a)(2) excepts from required public disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . it is information that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime only in relation to an investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(2). 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 that the governmental body seeks to withhold. See Id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977); Open Records Decision No. 434 at 2-3 (1986). Section 552.108(a)(2) is applicable only if the information in question relates to a concluded case that did not result in a conviction or a deferred adjudication. You state that the remaining information is related to concluded criminal cases that did not result in a conviction or a deferred adjudication. Based on your representations and our review of the remaining information, we find that section 552.108(a)(2) is applicable in this instance.

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 Publishing Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177, 186-87 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). The sheriff must release basic front-page information under section 552.108(c), even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. Basic information under section 552.108(c) includes the name of the complainant and a detailed description of the offense. See Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). However, you claim portions of the basic information in this instance are excepted from disclosure under the common-law right to privacy.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code also incorporates the doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information that (1) contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) is not of legitimate concern to the public. Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). To demonstrate the applicability of common-law privacy, both prongs of this test must be satisfied. Id. at 681-82. The types of information considered intimate and embarrassing by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating to sexual assault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children, psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs. Id. at 683. Upon review, we conclude the information you have marked is highly intimate or embarrassing and of no legitimate public interest. Accordingly, the sheriff must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

In summary, the sheriff must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 261.201 of the Family Code. Except for basic information, the sheriff may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code. In releasing basic information, the sheriff must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

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, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Tamara Wilcox

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

TW/dls

Ref: ID# 370298

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As our ruling is dispositive of this information, we need not address your remaining arguments against its disclosure.

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