April 4, 2011

Mr. Jose Hernandez

Interim Records Supervisor

Edinburg Police Department

1702 South Closner Boulevard

Edinburg, Texas 78539

OR2011-04613

Dear Mr. Hernandez:

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# 417919.

The Edinburg Police Department (the "department") received a request for a specified police report. You claim that portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if: (1) release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" A governmental body claiming section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See Gov't Code §§ 552.108(a)(1), 552.301(e)(1)(A). You state that the submitted information relates to a pending prosecution with the Edinburg Municipal Court. Based upon your representation and our review, we conclude that the release of the information you have marked would interfere with the prosecution of a crime, and agree that section 552.108 is applicable.

Section 552.108 of the Government Code does not except from disclosure basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime. Id. § 552.108(c). Basic information refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle Publishing Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). This information includes, but is not limited to, the details of the arrest, the physical condition of the arrested person, a detailed description of the offense, and the property involved. See Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). We note that you seek to withhold the entire narrative portion of the submitted report along with additional information detailing the incident at issue under section 552.108. However, the remaining portions of the submitted information do not contain information sufficient to satisfy the requirement that a "detailed description of the offense" be released as basic information. Id. Accordingly, the department must release a sufficient portion of the report to encompass a detailed description of the offense to satisfy the required release of basic information pursuant to Houston Chronicle. Thus, with the exception of the basic information, which you state you will release, the department may withhold the information you have marked pursuant to section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. The remaining information must be released. ⁽¹⁾

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,

Kirsten Brew

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

KB/sdk

Ref: ID# 417919

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note the information being released contains confidential information to which the requestor has a right of access. See Gov't Code § 552.023. Thus, if the department receives another request for this particular information from a different requestor, then the department should again seek a decision from this office.

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
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