June 15, 2011

Ms. Jessica Sangsvang

Assistant City Attorney

City of Fort Worth

1000 Throckmorton Street, 3^rd Floor

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

OR2011-08496

Dear Ms. Sangsvang:

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# 425552 (City of Fort Worth Public Information Request No. W008706).

The City of Fort Worth (the "city") received a request for information pertaining to a specified incident. You state the city is releasing the majority of the requested information. You claim that the submitted information is not subject to the Act. We have considered your arguments and reviewed the submitted information. We have also considered comments submitted by the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.304 (interested party may submit comments stating why information should or should not be released).

You inform us the submitted information consists of records obtained pursuant to grand jury subpoenas that the city is holding as an agent for the grand jury. The judiciary is expressly excluded from the requirements of the Act. Gov't Code § 552.003(1)(B). This office has determined that a grand jury, for purposes of the Act, is a part of the judiciary, and therefore not subject to the Act. Open Records Decision No. 411 (1984). Further, records kept by a governmental body that is acting as an agent for a grand jury are considered records in the constructive possession of the grand jury, and therefore are also not subject to the Act. Open Records Decisions Nos. 513 (1988), 411, 398 (1983); but see ORD 513 at 4 (defining limits of judiciary exclusion). We therefore conclude that the submitted information is in the custody of the city as agent of the grand jury and is not subject to the Act. Accordingly, this ruling does not address the public availability of the submitted information and the city need not release the submitted information in response to the instant request for information.

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,

Laura Ream Lemus

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

LRL/em

Ref: ID# 425552

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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