June 14, 2011

Mr. Jeffrey L. Moore

For City of Roanoke

Brown & Hofmeister, L.L.P.

740 East Campbell Road, Suite 800

Richardson, Texas 75081

OR2011-08385

Dear Mr. Moore:

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# 425346.

The Roanoke Police Department (the "department"), which you represent, received a request for information related to two specified incidents. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.108, and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. Section 552.101 encompasses information made confidential by other statutes, including section 58.007 of the Family Code, which provides in relevant part:

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be:

(1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records;

(2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and

(3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapters B, D, and E.

. . .

(e) Law enforcement records and files concerning a child may be inspected or copied by a juvenile justice agency as that term is defined by Section 58.101, a criminal justice agency as that term is defined by Section 411.082, Government Code, the child, and the child's parent or guardian.

. . .

(j) Before a child or a child's parent or guardian may inspect or copy a record or file concerning the child under Subsection (e), the custodian of the record or file shall redact:

(1) any personally identifiable information about a juvenile suspect, offender, victim, or witness who is not the child; and

(2) any information that is excepted from required disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, or other law.

Fam. Code § 58.007(c), (e), (j). Juvenile law enforcement records relating to delinquent conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 are confidential under section 58.007(c). See id. § 51.03 (defining "delinquent conduct"). For the purposes of section 58.007(c), a juvenile suspect or offender is a child as defined by section 51.02 of the Family Code. See id. § 51.02(2) ("child" means a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age).

Upon review, we find incident report number 1100007809 involves juveniles engaged in delinquent conduct occurring after September 1, 1997; therefore, this information is subject to section 58.007. However, the submitted information reveals the requestor is a parent of a juvenile offender listed in incident report number 1100007809. Therefore, the requestor has a right to inspect law enforcement records concerning her child under section 58.007(e). See id. § 58.007(e). However, personally identifiable information concerning any other juvenile suspects, offenders, victims, or witnesses must be redacted pursuant to section 58.007(j)(1) of the Family Code. See id. § 58.007(j)(1). Additionally, section 58.007(j)(2) provides that information subject to any other exception to disclosure under the Act or other law must be redacted. See id. § 58.007(j)(2). Accordingly, we will address your remaining arguments under sections 552.108 and 552.130 of the Government Code.

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] release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). 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 id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977).

You state the submitted information relates to pending criminal cases. Based on your representation and our review, we find that the release of the submitted information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. 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 that are present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). Thus, we find section 552.108(a)(1) is generally applicable to the submitted information.

However, 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). Basic information refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-87; Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). We note that basic information described in Houston Chronicle does not include Texas motor vehicle record information subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. Therefore, with the exception of basic information, the department may withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ However, in releasing the basic information, the department must redact the identifying information of any juvenile offenders who are not the requestor's child pursuant to section 58.007(j)(1) of the Family Code.

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,

Cindy Nettles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CN/dls

Ref: ID# 425346

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining argument against disclosure. We also note that the requestor has a special right of access to the information being released in this instance. Because such information is confidential with respect to the general public, if the department receives another request for this information from a different requestor, the department must again seek a ruling from this office.

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