March 29, 2011

Ms. Cecilia Gamez

Crime Records Bureau

McAllen Police Department

P.O. Box 220

McAllen, Texas 78501

OR2011-04328

Dear Ms. Gamez:

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# 412709.

The McAllen Police Department (the "department") received a request for a specified case report. We understand you to contend the department considers this request repetitious and redundant of a previous request received by the department from this requestor. We have considered your argument and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.232 of the Government Code provides as follows:

(a) A governmental body that determines that a requestor has made a request for information for which the governmental body has previously furnished copies to the requestor or made copies available to the requestor on payment of applicable charges under Subchapter F, shall respond to the request, in relation to the information for which copies have been already furnished or made available, in accordance with this section, except that:

(1) this section does not prohibit the governmental body from furnishing the information or making the information available to the requestor again in accordance with the request; and

(2) the governmental body is not required to comply with this section in relation to information that the governmental body simply furnishes or makes available to the requestor again in accordance with the request.

(b) The governmental body shall certify to the requestor that copies of all or part of the requested information, as applicable, were previously furnished to the requestor or made available to the requestor on payment of applicable charges under Subchapter F. The certification must include:

(1) a description of the information for which copies have been previously furnished or made available to the requestor;

(2) the date that the governmental body received the requestor's original request for that information;

(3) the date that the governmental body previously furnished copies of or made available copies of the information to the requestor;

(4) a certification that no subsequent additions, deletions, or corrections have been made to that information; and

(5) the name, title, and signature of the officer for public information or the officer's agent making the certification.

(c) A charge may not be imposed for making and furnishing a certification required under Subsection (b).

(d) This section does not apply to information for which the governmental body has not previously furnished copies to the requestor or made copies available to the requestor on payment of applicable charges under Subchapter F. A request by the requestor for information for which copies have not previously been furnished or made available to the requestor, including information for which copies were not furnished or made available because the information was redacted from other information that was furnished or made available or because the information did not yet exist at the time of an earlier request, shall be treated in the same manner as any other request for information under this chapter.

Gov't Code § 552.232. Thus, section 552.232 allows a governmental body to certify that records have previously been provided to a requestor, rather than make those same records available to the same requestor in response to subsequent requests. We note the submitted information was previously the subject of an identical request for information from the same requestor. In Open Records Letter No. 2011-00857 (2011), we determined, with the exception of basic information, the department may withhold the report for case #2010-130639 under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. We have no indication there has been any change in the law, facts, or circumstances on which the previous ruling was based. Accordingly, we determine the department may continue to rely on Open Records Letter No. 2011-00857 as a previous determination and, with the exception of basic information, withhold the information in accordance with that ruling. See Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (so long as law, facts, and circumstances on which prior ruling was based have not changed, first type of previous determination exists where requested information is precisely same information as was addressed in prior attorney general ruling, ruling is addressed to same governmental body, and ruling concludes information is or is not excepted from disclosure). Upon provision to the requestor of the certification required by section 552.232, the requestor need not again be provided with any basic information that the department made available to her in response to her previous request.

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,

Lindsay E. Hale

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

LEH/em

Ref: ID# 412709

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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