 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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March 9, 2011 Mr. John C. West General Counsel Texas Department of Criminal Justice Office of the Inspector General 4616 Howard Lane, Suite 250 Austin, Texas 78728 OR2011-03269 Dear Mr. West: 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# 411010 (OIG# 2010-00288). The Office of the Inspector General of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the "department") received a request for information pertaining to the investigation of the death of a named inmate and use of force logs for a specified time and location. You state you have released some of the requested information, including a custodial death report. See Code Crim. Proc. art 49.18(b). You also state you will redact certain addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, and personal family information pursuant to sections 552.117 and 552.147(b) of the Government Code and the previous determination issued to the department in Open Records Letter No. 2005-01067 (2005). (1) You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.102, 552.108, 552.130, and 552.134 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Initially, we note you have not submitted information responsive to the request for use of force logs for a specified time and location. To the extent any information responsive to this portion of the request existed on the date the department received the request, we assume the department has released it. If the department has not released any such information, it must do so at this time. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(a), .302; see also Open Records Decision No. 664 (2000) (if governmental body concludes no exceptions apply to requested information, it must release information as soon as possible). Section 552.134 of the Government Code encompasses information relating to inmates of the department and states, in relevant part: (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or by Section 552.029, information obtained or maintained by the [department] is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information about an inmate who is confined in a facility operated by or under a contract with the department. Gov't Code § 552.134(a). Section 552.029 of the Government Code provides, however: Notwithstanding Section . . . 552.134, the following information about an inmate who is confined in a facility operated by or under a contract with the [department] is subject to required disclosure under Section 552.021: . . . (8) basic information regarding the death of an inmate in custody, an incident involving the use of force, or an alleged crime involving the inmate. Id. § 552.029(8). Thus, the legislature explicitly made section 552.134 subject to section 552.029. You claim section 552.134 for the submitted information. We note although the inmate to whom the submitted information pertains is deceased, section 552.134 is applicable to information that relates to the decedent as an inmate. Thus, we find section 552.134 is generally applicable to the submitted information. We note, however, the information in question is related to the death of an inmate in custody. Basic information about this incident is subject to disclosure under section 552.029(8). Basic information under section 552.029(8) includes the time and place of the incident, the names of inmates and of department employees who were involved, a brief narrative of the incident, a brief description of any injuries sustained by anyone involved, and information regarding any criminal charges or disciplinary actions that were filed as a result of the incident. Therefore, with the exception of the basic information, which must be released under section 552.029(8), the department must withhold the submitted information under section 552.134 of the Government Code. (2) 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, Claire V. Morris Sloan Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division CVMS/tf Ref: ID# 411010 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures) Footnotes1. We note Open Records Letter No. 2005-01067 serves as a previous determination that the present and former home addresses and telephone numbers, social security numbers, and family member information of current or former employees of the department, regardless of whether the current or former employee complies with section 552.1175 of the Government Code, are excepted from disclosure under section 552.117(a)(3) of the Government Code. Further, section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact the social security number of a living person from public release without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office under the Act. 2. As our ruling under section 552.134 of the Government Code is dispositive, we need not address your remaining arguments against disclosure for the submitted information, except to note basic information may not generally be withheld under section 552.108. See Gov't Code § 552.108(c).
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |