January 4, 2011

Ms. Michelle T. Rangel

Assistant County Attorney

Fort Bend County Attorney's Office

301 Jackson Street, Suite 728

Richmond, Texas 77469

OR2011-00150

Dear Ms. Rangel:

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# 404793.

The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office (the "sheriff") received a request for information relating to three specified incident reports. You state you will release some information to the requestor. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.108, and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted representative 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). You assert offense report number 10-22189 pertains to an investigation of alleged child abuse or neglect. See id. § 261.001(1), (4) (defining "abuse" for purposes of Family Code ch. 261); see also id. § 101.003(a) (defining "child" for purposes of Family Code). We note, however, offense report number 10-22189 pertains to an assault involving adults and does not reflect it was used or developed in an investigation under chapter 261. Consequently, although you state a referral was made to Child Protective Services, we find you have failed to adequately demonstrate how this information was used or developed in an investigation under chapter 261 of the Family Code. We therefore conclude section 261.201 is not applicable in this instance. Accordingly, the sheriff may not withhold offense report number 10-22189 under section 552.101 on that basis.

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[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). 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 provide a letter from the sheriff stating offense report numbers 10-22189 and 10-22973 relate to active criminal investigations. Based upon this representation, we conclude release of the information at issue 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) (court delineates law enforcement interests present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). Accordingly, we conclude section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code is generally applicable to the submitted information.

However, 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). This subsection refers to the basic front-page information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88. The sheriff must release basic information, including a detailed description of the offense, even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. See Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). We note basic information described in Houston Chronicle does not include Texas motor vehicle record information subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. Therefore, with the exception of basic information, the sheriff may withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code.

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,

Mack T. Harrison

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

MTH/em

Ref: ID# 404793

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We assume 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 those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.

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