December 2, 2011

Ms. Susan Fillion

Assistant County Attorney

Harris County

1019 Congress, 15th Floor

Houston, Texas 77002

OR2011-17756

Dear Ms. Fillion:

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# 443006 (C.A. File No. 11PIA0475).

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences (the "institute") received a request for a specified autopsy report. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

We note that the requested information is the subject of a previous ruling issued by this office. See Open Records Letter No. 2011-15073 (2011). In that ruling, we concluded the institute may withhold the information at issue under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We understand that the pertinent facts and circumstances have not changed since the issuance of that prior ruling. Thus, we determine that the institute must continue to rely on our ruling in Open Records Letter No. 2011-15073 as a previous determination and withhold the submitted information in accordance with that decision. See Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (governmental body may rely on previous determination when records or information at issue are precisely same records or information that were previously submitted to this office pursuant to section 552.301(e)(1)(D); governmental body which received request for records or information is same governmental body that previously requested and received ruling from attorney general; prior ruling concluded that precise records or information are or are not excepted from disclosure under Act; and law, facts, and circumstances on which prior ruling was based have not changed since issuance of ruling). As we are able to make this determination, we do not address your claim.

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# 443006

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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