February 22, 2012

Ms. Teresa J. Brown

Senior Open Records Assistant

Plano Police Department

P.O. Box 860358

Plano, Texas 75086-0358

OR2012-02767

Dear Ms. Brown:

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# 446244 (Plano PD# MCLA112911).

The Plano Police Department (the "department") received a request for the certified charging documents and certified final disposition documents for a specified case. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

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 section encompasses information protected by other statutes, such as section 58.007 of the Family Code, which provides, in pertinent 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 date 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). Juvenile law enforcement records relating to delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 are confidential under section 58.007. See id. § 51.03(a) (defining "delinquent conduct"). For purposes of section 58.007(c), "child" means a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age. See id. § 51.02(2). The submitted information involves children engaged in delinquent conduct that occurred after September 1, 1997. As such, this information is subject to section 58.007(c). However, you state, and the submitted information reflects, the requestor is one of the juvenile offenders. Therefore, in accordance with section 58.007(e), the department may not use section 58.007(c) to withhold this information from this requestor. See id. § 58.007(e). However, section 58.007(j)(1) provides that any identifiable information about a juvenile offender who is not the requestor must be redacted. Id. § 58.007(j)(1). Accordingly, the department must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007(j)(1) of the Family Code. The remaining information you have marked either identifies the requestor or is not identifying information of another juvenile offender. As such, the department may not withhold any of the remaining information on this basis. Section 58.007(j)(2) provides that information subject to any other exception to disclosure under the Act or law must be redacted. Id. § 58.007(j)(2). Thus, we will address your remaining argument for the remaining information.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code provides information relating to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit, a motor vehicle title or registration, or a personal identification document issued by an agency of Texas or another state or country is excepted from public release. Gov't Code § 552.130(a). Accordingly, the department must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information you have marked is not subject to section 552.130 and may not be withheld on this basis.

In summary: (1) the department must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007(j)(1) of the Family Code and (2) the department must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The department must release the remaining information. ⁽²⁾

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,

Lindsay E. Hale

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

LEH/ag

Ref: ID# 446244

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note the department did not raise section 552.130 of the Government Code as an exception to disclosure within ten business days of the date the department received the request. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(b), .302. However, because section 552.130 is a mandatory exception that can provide a compelling reason to withhold information from disclosure, we will consider your claim under section 552.130, notwithstanding the department's violation of section 552.301(b) in raising that exception. See id. § 552.302.

2. We note the information being released in this instance is confidential with respect to the general public. See Fam. Code. § 58.007. Therefore, if the department receives another request for this information from an individual other than this requestor, the department must again seek a ruling from this office.

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