August 5, 2011

Ms. Ashley D. Fourt

Assistant District Attorney

Tarrant County

401 West Belknap

Fort Worth, Texas 79196-0201

OR2011-11301

Dear Ms. Fourt:

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# 426154.

The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office (the "district attorney") received a request for information pertaining to a specified case. ⁽¹⁾ You state you are making some of the requested information available to the requestor. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.103, 552.108, 552.114, 552.115, 552.130, 552.132, 552.1325, 552.136, 552.137, and 552.147 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. ⁽²⁾

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 pertains to a pending criminal matter that was dismissed but indicate it may be re-filed as the statute of limitations has not run. We note there is no statute of limitations for the crime of murder. See Crim. Proc. Code art. 12.01(1)(A). Based on your representations and our review, we determine 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).

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, and includes a detailed description of the offense. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-87; Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information considered to be basic information). Accordingly, with the exception of basic information, the district attorney may withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. ⁽³⁾

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,

Paige Lay

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

PL/tf

Ref: ID# 426154

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. You inform us the requestor excluded prosecutorial work product and grand jury information from his request.

2. We assume the "representative samples" of records submitted to this office are truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.

3. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining arguments against disclosure, except to note that basic information held to be public in Houston Chronicle is generally not excepted from disclosure under section 552.103 of the Government Code. See Open Records Decision No. 597 (1991).

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