 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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February 22, 2010 Mr. Peter G. Smith City Attorney City of Richardson P.O. Box 831078 Richardson, Texas 75083-1078 OR2010-02609 Dear Mr. Smith: 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# 375110. The Richardson Police Department (the "department") received a request for information relating to a specified incident number and a named individual. You state that some of the requested information either has been or will be released. You claim that the rest of the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.103 and 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions 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." 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). 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). The juvenile must have been at least 10 years old and less than 17 years of age when the conduct occurred. See Fam. Code § 51.02(2) (defining "child" for purposes of Fam. Code tit. 3). 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. We find that the submitted information involves a juvenile offender, so as to fall within the scope of section 58.007(c). See id. § 51.03(a)-(b) (defining "delinquent conduct" and "conduct indicating need for supervision" for purposes of Fam. Code tit. 3). In this instance, however, the requestor is a parent of the juvenile involved. The requestor has a right to inspect juvenile law enforcement records concerning her child pursuant to section 58.007(e). See id. § 58.007(e). Section 58.007(j) provides, however, that information subject to any other exception to disclosure under the Act or other law must be redacted. See id. § 58.007(j)(2). Therefore, 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 state that release of the information at issue would interfere with a pending criminal case. Based on your representations and the affidavit, we conclude that section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable in this instance. 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). 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. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88. The department must release basic offense and arrest information, 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). Except for any basic information that must be released, the department may withhold the information at issue under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. (1) 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, James W. Morris, III Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division JWM/cc Ref: ID# 375110 Enc: Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures) Footnotes1. As we are able to make this determination, we do not address your claim under section 552.103 of the Government Code, except to note that section 552.103 does not generally except from disclosure the same basic information that must be released under section 552.108(c). See Open Records Decision No. 597 (1991).
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