March 29, 2011

Mr. John C. West

Office of the Inspector General

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

4616 Howard Lane, Suite 250

Austin, Texas 78728

OR2011-04323

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# 412593.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the "department") received a request for two specified investigations involving a named inmate. You state you will redact information under section 552.147 of the Government Code and the previous determination issued to the department in Open Records Letter No. 2005-01067 (2005). ⁽¹⁾ You state you have released some information to the requestor. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.102, 552.108, 552.117, 552.1175, 552.134, and 552.147 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.134 of the Government Code relates to information about inmates of the department. This exception provides in relevant part:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or by Section 552.029 [of the Government Code], information obtained or maintained by the [department] is excepted from [required public disclosure] 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). However, section 552.134 is explicitly made subject to section 552.029, which provides in relevant part the following:

Notwithstanding . . . [s]ection . . . 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). Upon review, we conclude section 552.134(a) is generally applicable to the submitted information. We note, however, the information at issue pertains to alleged crimes involving an inmate. Under section 552.029(8), basic information regarding these incidents is subject to disclosure. Basic information includes the time and place of the incident, the names of inmates and 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. With the exception of basic information that 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,

Mack T. Harrison

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

MTH/em

Ref: ID# 412593

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Open Records Letter No. 2005-01067 authorizes the department to withhold the present and former home addresses and telephone numbers, social security numbers, and family member information of its current or former employees under section 552.117(a)(3) of the Government Code, regardless of whether the current or former employee complies with section 552.1175 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting a decision under the Act. See Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (listing elements of first type of previous determination under section 552.301(a) of the Government Code).

2. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address any of the remaining arguments against disclosure, except to note basic information under section 552.029(8) corresponds to basic front-page information under section 552.108 of the Government Code. See Gov't Code § 552.108(c); Houston Chronicle Publishing Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177, 186-88 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976); Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976).

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