April 6, 2010

Ms. Candice M. De La Garza

Assistant City Attorney

City of Houston

P.O. Box 368

Houston, Texas 770001-0368

OR2010-04809

Dear Ms. De La Garza:

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# 376066.

The Houston Police Department (the "department") received a request for a specified incident report. You state you will release some of the requested information to the requestor. You claim portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.108(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 id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state the submitted information relates to a criminal investigation that is inactive pending additional leads, but that the statute of limitations has not run. Further, you state the investigation may be reactivated once additional leads are developed and release of the information would interfere with the detection and investigation of a crime. Based upon this representation, we conclude section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to the 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).

However, as you acknowledge, 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). Basic information refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. Thus, with the exception of the basic information, which you state you will release, the department may withhold the submitted information 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,

Adam Leiber

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

ACL/rl

Ref: ID# 376066

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note some of the basic information is confidential and not subject to release to the general public. However, the requestor in this instance has a special right of access to her own information. Gov't Code § 552.023 (person or person's authorized representative has special right of access to records that contain information relating to the person that are protected from public disclosure by laws intended to protect that person's privacy interests). If the department receives another request for this information from a different requestor, it must again seek a decision from this office.

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