March 24, 2010

Ms. Jordan Hale

Assistant Attorney General

Assistant Public Information Coordinator

General Counsel Division

Office of the Attorney General

P.O. Box 12548

Austin, Texas 78711-2548

OR2010-04141

Dear Ms. Hale:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 378177 (PIR No. 10-27253).

The Office of the Attorney General (the "OAG") received a request for information pertaining to the cyber crime investigation of Myron Douglas Phillips. The OAG argues the information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.108, and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the OAG's claimed exceptions and have reviewed the submitted sample of information. ⁽¹⁾

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 section 261.201 of the Family Code, which provides as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Section 261.203, the 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.

Fam. Code § 261.201(a). The Harris County District Attorney's Office submitted a letter explaining the information at issue is being used as part of its prosecution for the offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of fourteen. See id. § 261.001(1) (defining "abuse" for purposes of chapter 261 of the Family Code); see also id. § 101.003(a) (defining "child" for purposes of section 261.201). Because the information is used as part of an investigation conducted under chapter 261, we find Exhibit B is confidential under section 261.201 of the Family Code. Thus, the OAG must withhold the information. Because section 261.201 is dispositive, we do not address the OAG's other arguments.

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,

Yen-Ha Le

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

YHL/sdk

Ref: ID# 378177

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We assume that the "representative sample" of records submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent that those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.

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