April 7, 2010

Mr. Leonard V. Schneider

Ross, Banks, May, Cron, & Cavin, P.C.

For City of League City

2 Riverway, Suite 700

Houston, Texas 77056-1918

OR2010-04855

Dear Mr. Schneider:

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# 377168 (LCPD #10-062).

The League City Police Department (the "department"), which you represent, received a request for all information related to a named police officer. You state that some of the requested information will be provided to the requestor, with redactions pursuant to section 552.147 of the Government Code, ⁽¹⁾ as well as previous determinations issued by this office in Open Records Decision Nos. 670 (2001) and 684 (2009). ⁽²⁾ You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.117, 552.119, 552.136, and 552.137 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Initially, we note, and you acknowledge, the requestor excluded from his request the following information: L-2 and L-3 reports, family member and marital status information, financial information, medical records, fingerprints, personal automobile insurance cards, military records, birth certificates, and test questions and answers. Thus, any such information within the submitted documents is not responsive to the present request for information. This ruling does not address the public availability of any information that is not responsive to the request, and the department need not release non-responsive information in response to this request.

Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes, including section 143.089 of the Local Government Code. You state that the City of League City is a civil service city. Section 143.089 contemplates two different types of personnel files, a police officer's civil service file that a city's civil service director is required to maintain, and an internal file that the police department may maintain for its own use. See Local Gov't Code § 143.089(a), (g).

In cases in which a police department investigates a police officer's misconduct and takes disciplinary action against an officer, it is required by section 143.089(a)(2) to place all investigatory records relating to the investigation and disciplinary action, including background documents such as complaints, witness statements, and documents of like nature from individuals who were not in a supervisory capacity, in the police officer's civil service file maintained under section 143.089(a). ⁽³⁾ See Abbott v. City of Corpus Christi, 109 S.W.3d 113, 122 (Tex. App.--Austin 2003, no pet.). All investigatory materials in a case resulting in disciplinary action are "from the employing department" when they are held by or in possession of the department because of its investigation into a police officer's misconduct, and the department must forward them to the civil service commission for placement in the civil service personnel file. Id. Such records are subject to release under chapter 552 of the Government Code. See id. § 143.089(f); Open Records Decision No. 562 at 6 (1990). However, a document relating to a police officer's alleged misconduct may not be placed in his civil service personnel file if there is insufficient evidence to sustain the charge of misconduct. See Local Gov't Code § 143.089(b). Information that reasonably relates to a police officer's employment relationship with the police department and that is maintained in a police department's internal file pursuant to section 143.089(g) is confidential and must not be released. ⁽⁴⁾ See City of San Antonio v. San Antonio Express-News, 47 S.W.3d 556 (Tex. App.--San Antonio 2000, pet. denied); City of San Antonio v. Tex. Attorney General, 851 S.W.2d 946, 949 (Tex. App.--Austin 1993, writ denied).

You inform us that Exhibit 1 consists of information that is maintained in the department's internal personnel file of the named officer and that did not result in disciplinary action as contemplated by section 143.089. Based on your representations and our review, we agree that Exhibit 1 is confidential pursuant to section 143.089(g) of the Local Government Code and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining arguments against disclosure.

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,

Kate Hartfield

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

KH/dls

Ref: ID# 377168

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. See Gov't Code § 552.147(b) (governmental body may redact living person's social security number from public release without necessity of requesting decision by attorney general under Act).

2. See Open Records Decision No. 670 at 6 (2001) (authorizing all governmental bodies that are subject to the Act to withhold home addresses and telephone numbers, personal cellular telephone numbers, personal pager numbers, social security numbers, and family member information of peace officers without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision under section 552.117(a)(2), Open Records Decision No. 684 (authorizing all governmental bodies that are subject to the Act to withhold ten categories of information without the necessity of requesting an attorney general); see also Gov't Code § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (delineating circumstances under which attorney general decision constitutes previous determination under section 552.301).

3. Chapter 143 prescribes the following types of disciplinary actions: removal, suspension, demotion, and uncompensated duty. See Local Gov't Code §§ 143.051-.055.

4. We note that section 143.089(g) requires a police department that receives a request for information maintained in a file under section 143.089(g) to refer that person to the civil service director or the director's designee.

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