January 18, 2012

Ms. Molly Higgins Santos

Assistant County Attorney

Webb County

P.O. Box 420268

Laredo, Texas 78042-0268

OR2012-00836

Dear Ms. Santos:

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# 442713.

Webb County (the "county") received a request for information submitted to the county Civil Service Commission relating to a specified hearing. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.103 and 552.108 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted representative sample of information. ⁽²⁾

Section 552.108(a)(1) 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 must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). We note that although section 552.108 is generally not applicable to information relating to an internal investigation that is purely administrative in nature, such information may be withheld under this exception if its release would interfere with the investigation or prosecution of crime. See City of Fort Worth v. Cornyn, 86 S.W.3d 320 (Tex. App.--Austin 2002, no pet.); Morales v. Ellen, 840 S.W.2d 519, 525-26 (Tex. Civ. App.--El Paso 1992, writ denied) (statutory predecessor to section 552.108 not applicable to internal investigation that did not result in criminal investigation or prosecution); see also Open Records Decision No. 350 at 3-4 (1982). We note the submitted information pertains to an internal investigation. However, you explain the submitted information relates to an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by the county Sheriff's Department. Based upon these representations and our review, we conclude 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). Accordingly, the county may withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. As we are able to make this determination, we need not address your other arguments against disclosure.

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,

Jennifer Luttrall

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JLU/dls

Ref: ID# 442713

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Although you also raise section 552.101 of the Government Code, you have submitted no arguments sufficient to demonstrate the applicability of that exception. Therefore, this decision will not address section 552.101. See Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(A) (governmental body must submit written comments stating reasons why claimed exceptions apply to information at issue).

2. This letter ruling assumes the submitted representative sample of information is truly representative of the requested information as a whole. This ruling neither reaches nor authorizes the sheriff to withhold any information that is substantially different from the submitted information. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(e)(1)(D), .302; Open Records Decision Nos. 499 at 6 (1988), 497 at 4 (1988).

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer