 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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November 8, 2011 Mr. Ronald J. Bounds Assistant City Attorney City of Corpus Christi P.O. Box 9277 Corpus Christi, Texas 78469-9277 OR2011-16425 Dear Mr. Bounds: 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# 440888. The Corpus Christi Police Department (the "department") received a request for information related to a specified incident involving a named individual. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the information you submitted. 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. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential. You claim section 552.101 in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code, which provides in 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 [the Act] or other law. Fam. Code § 58.007(c), (e), (j); see id. § 51.03(a)-(b) (defining "delinquent conduct" and "conduct indicating need for supervision" for purposes of Fam. Code tit. 3). Section 58.007(c) is applicable to records of juvenile conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. See Act of June 2, 1997, 75th Leg., R.S., ch. 1086, §§ 20, 55(a), 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4179, 4187, 4199; Open Records Decision No. 644 (1996). The juvenile must have been at least 10 years old and less than 17 years of age when the conduct occurred. See Fam. Code § 51.02(2) (defining "child" for purposes of Fam. Code title 3). Section 58.007(c) is not applicable to information that relates to a juvenile as a complainant, victim, witness, or other involved party and not as a suspect or offender. We find the submitted information involves three juvenile suspects, so as to be generally confidential under section 58.007(c). In this instance, however, the requestor may be a parent or guardian of juvenile number two. As such, the requestor would have a right to inspect law enforcement records concerning juvenile number two under section 58.007(e). See id. § 58.007(e). But as we are unable to determine whether the requestor is a parent or guardian of juvenile number two, we will rule conditionally. Thus, if the requestor is not a parent or guardian of juvenile number two, the department must withhold the submitted information in its entirety under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007(c) of the Family Code. But if the requestor is juvenile number two's parent or guardian, the submitted information may not be withheld on that basis. Section 58.007(j)(1) provides, however, that any personally identifiable information about the other two juvenile suspects must be withheld. See id. § 58.007(j)(1). Thus, in the event the requestor is juvenile number two's parent or guardian, the types of identifying information relating to the other juveniles we have marked must be withheld under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 58.007(j)(1), and the rest of the submitted information must be released pursuant to section 58.007(e). 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, James W. Morris, III Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division JWM/em Ref: ID# 440888 Enc: Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures)
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