January 20, 2011

Mr. Douglas E. Manning

Assistant County Attorney

Orange County Courthouse

801 Division

Orange, Texas 77630

OR2011-01007

Dear Mr. Manning:

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# 406322.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office (the "sheriff") received a request for a specified incident report. You state you have released the front page of the report to the requestor. You claim the remaining 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.

Section 552.108 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 must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You inform us the submitted incident report pertains to a pending criminal investigation.  Based upon this representation and our review, we conclude the release of the information you have marked as Exhibit C 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 that are present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). Therefore, section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code is generally applicable to the information at issue.

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). Basic information includes the identity of the complainant and a detailed description of the offense. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-87; Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information made public by Houston Chronicle). The sheriff must release basic information, even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. In this instance, the front page, which you state you have released, does not contain the identity of the complainant, nor does it contain information sufficient to satisfy the requirement that a detailed description of the offense be released as basic information. See ORD 127. Accordingly, we determine the sheriff must release the identity of the complainant and a sufficient portion of the narrative to encompass a detailed description of the offense to satisfy the required release of basic information pursuant to Houston Chronicle. The sheriff may withhold the remaining information in Exhibit C 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# 406322

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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