January 31, 2011

Mr. David K. Walker

County Attorney

Montgomery County

207 West Phillips, Suite 100

Conroe, Texas 77301

OR2011-01583

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# 407501.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Department (the "sheriff") received a request for information related to a specified case. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.108(a)(1) 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(a)(1) 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 the sheriff seeks to withhold "only the investigative portion of this report, in addition to that portion highlighted" under section 552.108. You inform us, and provide a representation from the Montgomery County District Attorney stating, the submitted report relates to a pending criminal prosecution. Based on these representations and our review, we conclude that the release of the submitted report 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, section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to the submitted report.

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). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic front-page 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 deemed public by Houston Chronicle). Basic information includes a detailed description of the offense. See ORD 127 at 3-4. As you acknowledge, the sheriff must release basic information, including a detailed description of each offense from the narrative portion of the submitted report. The sheriff may withhold the rest of 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,

Jonathan Miles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JM/em

Ref: ID# 407501

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note although you raise section 552.101 of the Government Code, you have not provided any arguments to support this exception. Therefore we assume you have withdrawn your claim that this section applies to the submitted information.

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