February 14, 2011

Mr. Daniel Bradford

Assistant County Attorney

Travis County Attorney's Office

P.O. Box 1748

Austin, Texas 78767

OR2011-02230

Dear Mr. Bradford

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# 409091 (File No. 101507(5)).

The Travis County Sheriff's Office (the "sheriff") received a request for information relating to two specified case numbers. You claim 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 information you submitted. ⁽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." ⁽²⁾ Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential. Section 261.201 of the Family Code provides in part:

(a) [T]he 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.

. . .

(k) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an investigating agency, other than the [Texas Department of Family and Protective Services] or the Texas Youth Commission, on request, shall provide to the parent, managing conservator, or other legal representative of a child who is the subject of reported abuse or neglect, or to the child if the child is at least 18 years of age, information concerning the reported abuse or neglect that would otherwise be confidential under this section. The investigating agency shall withhold information under this subsection if the parent, managing conservator, or other legal representative of the child requesting the information is alleged to have committed the abuse or neglect.

(l) Before a child or a parent, managing conservator, or other legal representative of a child may inspect or copy a record or file concerning the child under Subsection (k), the custodian of the record or file must redact:

(1) any personally identifiable information about a victim or witness under 18 years of age unless that victim or witness is:

(A) the child who is the subject of the report; or

(B) another child of the parent, managing conservator, or other legal representative requesting the information;

(2) any information that is excepted from required disclosure under [the Act], or other law; and

(3) the identity of the person who made the report.

Fam. Code § 261.201(a), (k)-(l). We find the submitted information was used or developed in investigations of alleged or suspected child abuse under chapter 261 of the Family Code and is therefore generally confidential under section 261.201(a). See id. §§ 261.001(1) (defining "abuse" for purposes of Fam. Code ch. 261), 101.003 (defining child for purposes of Family Code tit. 5). In this instance, however, the requestor is an attorney representing a parent of the children who were the victims of the alleged or suspected abuse, and the requestor's client is not accused of committing the abuse. Therefore, the sheriff may not withhold the submitted information from this requestor on the basis of section 261.201(a). See id. § 261.201(k). Section 261.201(l) provides, however, that the identity of the reporting party must be withheld. See id. § 261.201(l)(3). The sheriff must withhold the types of information we have marked that identify the reporting party in report number 10-27516 under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 261.201(l)(3) of the Family Code. Section 261.201(l) also provides that any information excepted from disclosure under the Act or other law may be withheld. See id. § 261.201(l)(2). Therefore, we will address your claims under section 552.108 of the Government Code.

Section 552.108 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 state release of report number 10-28516 would interfere with a pending prosecution by the Travis County Attorney's Office. You also state release of the remaining information in report number 10-27516 would interfere with a pending investigation by the sheriff's office. Based on your representations, we conclude section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable in this instance. 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).

We note 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). The sheriff must release basic offense and arrest information, including detailed descriptions of the offenses, even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. The sheriff may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code.

In summary: (1) the sheriff must withhold the marked types of information that identify the reporting party in report number 10-27516 under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 261.201(l)(3) of the Family Code; and (2) the sheriff may withhold the rest of the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code, except for the basic information that must be released under section 552.108(c). ⁽³⁾

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,

James W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/em

Ref: ID# 409091

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note the requestor does not seek access to social security, Texas driver's license, Texas license plate and vehicle identification numbers. Thus, those types of information are not responsive to the request, and we do not address their public availability.

2. This office will raise section 552.101 on behalf of a governmental body, as this section is a mandatory exception to disclosure. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007, .352; Open Records Decision No. 674 at 3 n.4 (2001) (mandatory exceptions).

3. We note this requestor has a right of access in this instance to information the sheriff would be required to withhold from the general public. Should the sheriff receive another request for this same information from a different requestor, the sheriff should resubmit this information and request another decision. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(a), .302.

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