April 15, 2010

Mr. David K. Walker

County Attorney

Montgomery County

207 West Phillips, Suite 100

Conroe, Texas 77301

OR2010-05343

Dear Mr. Walker:

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# 377280 (Montgomery County Sheriff's Department ORR #2010-0535).

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Department (the "sheriff") received a request for a specified offense report. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception 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. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes, such as section 58.007 of the Family Code, which 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.

Fam. Code § 58.007(c). Section 58.007(c) is applicable to records of juvenile delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. The submitted report involves delinquent conduct that occurred after September 1, 1997 and lists as a suspect an individual who met the definition of "child" at the time of the offense. See id. § 51.02(2) (defining "child" for purposes of title 3 of Family Code as individual who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age); see also id.§ 51.03(a) (defining "delinquent conduct" for purposes of Fam. Code § 58.007). You do not inform us, and it does not appear, that any of the exceptions in section 58.007 apply to the information in this report. Therefore, the sheriff must withhold the submitted information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007(c) of the Family 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,

Kate Hartfield

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

KH/dls

Ref: ID# 377280

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your arguments against disclosure.

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