February 13, 2012

Captain Greg Minton

Leander Police Department

705 Leander Drive

Leander, Texas 78641

OR2012-02268

Dear Capt. Minton:

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# 449000.

The Leander Police Department (the "department") received a request for information pertaining to a specified incident and information pertaining to specified charges. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

You inform us that LPD110468 was the subject of a previous request for information, in response to which this office issued Open Records Letter No. 2011-18034 (2011). In that decision, we ruled that (1) some of the requested information was excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 11 of article 49.25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and constitutional privacy and (2) the remaining information must be released. As we have no indication that the law, facts, or circumstances on which the prior ruling was based have changed, the department must continue to rely on that ruling as a previous determination and continue to withhold or release the requested 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).

You claim LPD110510 is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code, which 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 that claims an exception to disclosure under section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why this exception is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state the information at issue relates to an open criminal investigation. Based on this representation and our review, we conclude the department may withhold LPD110510 under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. Department 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).

However, 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). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic front-page information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88; Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). With the exception of basic information, the department may withhold LPD110510 under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾

In summary, the department must continue to rely on Open Records Letter No. 2011-18034 as a previous determination and continue to withhold or release the requested information in accordance with that decision. With the exception of basic information, the department may withhold LPD110510 under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code.

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,

Tamara H. Holland

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

THH/ag

Ref: ID# 449000

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining argument for this information.

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