 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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May 21, 2010 Mr. Todd Greenwood Assistant District Attorney Wichita County District Attorney's Office 900 Seventh Street Wichita Falls, Texas 76301-2482 OR2010-07347 Dear Mr. Greenwood: 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# 380112. The Wichita County Sheriff's Office (the "sheriff") received a request for certain information concerning the arrest and investigation of a named individual. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. We have also received and considered comments from a representative of the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.304 (interested party may submit comments stating why information should or should not be released). Section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code 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[.]" Id. § 552.108(a)(1). A governmental body that claims an exception to disclosure under section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why this exception is applicable to the information at issue. See id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). We note section 552.108(a)(1) is not applicable to records of an internal affairs investigation that is purely administrative in nature and did not involve the investigation or prosecution of crime. See City of Fort Worth v. Cornyn, 86 S.W.3d 230 (Tex. App.--Austin, 2002, no pet.) (section 552.108 not applicable to information police department holds as employer); Morales v. Ellen, 840 S.W.2d 519, 525-26 (Tex. Civ. App.--El Paso 1992, writ denied) (statutory predecessor to section 552.108 not applicable to internal investigation that did not result in criminal investigation or prosecution). You state that the district attorney objects to the release of the submitted information because its release would interfere with a pending criminal prosecution. Based on your representations and our review of the information at issue, we conclude that the release of this information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. 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, section 552.108 of the Government Code 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. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88; Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information considered to be basic information). Thus, with the exception of basic information, the sheriff may withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1). (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, Jonathan Miles Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division JM/jb Ref: ID# 380112 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures)
1. Although a representative of the requestor submitted arguments to this office asserting that a portion
of the information at issue was subject to section 552.022 of the Government Code and, thus, was not excepted
under section 552.108 of the Government Code, we determine that none of the submitted information is subject
to section 552.022. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |