January 24, 2011

Ms. Michelle T. Rangel

Assistant County Attorney

Fort Bend County

301 Jackson Street, Suite 728

Richmond, Texas 77469

OR2011-01114

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# 406713.

The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office (the "sheriff") received a request for call slips for a specified period of time and two specified incident reports. You state the sheriff has released some of the requested information. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions 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. Section 552.101 encompasses section 58.007 of the Family Code, which provides for the confidentiality of juvenile law enforcement records related to delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. See Open Records Decision No. 680 at 4 (2004); see also Fam. Code § 51.03(a), (b) (defining "delinquent conduct" and "conduct indicating a need for supervision"); 51.02(2) (defining "child" as a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age at the time of the conduct). Section 58.007 provides in relevant 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.

. . .

(e) Law enforcement records and files concerning a child may be inspected or copied by a juvenile justice agency as that term is defined by Section 58.101, a criminal justice agency as that term is defined by Section 411.082, Government Code, the child, and the child's parent or guardian.

. . .

(j) Before a child or a child's parent or guardian may inspect or copy a record or file concerning the child under Subsection (e), the custodian of the record or file shall redact:

(1) any personally identifiable information about a juvenile suspect, offender, victim, or witness who is not the child; and

(2) any information that is excepted from required disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, or other law.

Fam. Code § 58.007(c), (e), (j). The submitted information consists of law enforcement records pertaining to juvenile conduct indicating a need for supervision that occurred after September 1, 1997. Therefore, the submitted information is subject to section 58.007. In this instance, the requestor is the parent of the juvenile at issue. Accordingly, information pertaining to the requestor's child may not be withheld from him under section 552.101 of the Government Code based on section 58.007(c). See id. § 58.007(e). However, because you assert that the submitted information is excepted under sections 552.101 and 552.108 of the Government Code, we must address whether the information at issue is excepted under these sections. See id. § 58.007(j)(2).

Section 552.101 of the Government Code also encompasses article 63.017 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides the following:

Clearinghouse records that relate to the investigation by a law enforcement agency of a missing child, a missing person, or an unidentified body and records or notations that the clearinghouse maintains for internal use in matters relating to missing children, missing persons, or unidentified bodies are confidential.

Crim. Proc. Code art. 63.017. You contend the submitted information is confidential under article 63.017 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. For purposes of article 63.017, "clearinghouse" is defined as the missing children and missing persons information clearinghouse, which is established within the Texas Department of Public Safety. Id. arts. 63.001(7), 63.002(a). The submitted information consists of two incident reports and the related call slips that were created by the sheriff. These incident reports and call slips are not clearinghouse records for purposes of article 63.017. Therefore, the sheriff may not withhold any of the submitted information under section 552.101 in conjunction with that article. See id. arts. 63.001(7), 63.002(a).

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 state that report number 10-28672 and call slip A10300098 relate to a pending criminal investigation. Based upon this representation, we conclude that 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 that are present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). Accordingly, we conclude that section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code is generally applicable to report number 10-28672 and call slip A10300098.

Section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information concerning an investigation that concluded in a result other than conviction or deferred adjudication. Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(2). A governmental body claiming section 552.108(a)(2) must demonstrate that the requested information relates to a criminal investigation that has concluded in a final result other than a conviction or deferred adjudication. See id. § 552.301(e) (governmental body must provide comments explaining why exceptions raised should apply to information requested). You state report number 10-28091 and call slip A102931035 relate to a concluded case that did not result in a conviction or deferred adjudication. Based on your representations, we conclude section 552.108(a)(2) is generally applicable to report number 10-28091 and call slip A102931035.

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 refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See Houston Chronicle, 531 S.W.2d at 186-88; Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). The sheriff must release basic information, including a detailed description of the offense, even if this information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. Thus, with the exception of basic information, the sheriff may withhold report number 10-28672 and call slip A10300098 under section 552.108(a)(1) and report number 10-28091 and call slip A102931035 under section 552.108(a)(2). As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining argument against disclosure. ⁽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,

Jennifer Luttrall

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JL/vb

Ref: ID# 406713

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note that the requestor has a special right of access to the information being released in this instance. Because such information is confidential with respect to the general public, if the sheriff receives another request for this information from a different requestor, the sheriff must again seek a ruling from this office.

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