March 26, 2012

Ms. Cara Leahy White

Taylor Olson Adkins Sralla Elam L.L.P.

6000 Western Place, Suite 200

Fort Worth, Texas 76107-4654

OR2012-04415

Dear Ms. White:

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# 448580.

The City of Southlake (the "city"), which you represent, received two requests from different requestors for information pertaining to incident number 11SP063593. You state the city will redact information pursuant to Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009) in any information being released. ⁽¹⁾ You claim some of 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.

Initially, we note the submitted information contains an emergency protective order and other information that has been filed with a court. Section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code provides for required public disclosure of "information that is also contained in a public court record," unless the information is made confidential under the Act or other law. Gov't Code § 552.022(a)(17). The court-filed documents we marked are subject to section 552.022(a)(17). You seek to withhold this information under section 552.108 of the Government Code, which is a discretionary exception to disclosure that protects a governmental body's interests and may be waived. See id. § 552.108; Open Records Decision Nos. 665 at 2 n.5 (2000) (discretionary exceptions generally), 177 at 3 (1977) (statutory predecessor to section 552.108 subject to waiver). As such, section 552.108 does not make information confidential under the Act. Therefore, the city may not withhold the marked court-filed documents under section 552.108. As you do not raise any other exceptions to disclosure of this information, the marked court-filed documents must be released.

Section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code 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 claiming section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state the remaining information relates to a pending criminal investigation. Based upon this representation and our review, we conclude release of the information at issue 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, we conclude section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code is generally applicable to the remaining information.

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). Basic information refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See Houston Chronicle, 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). Thus, with the exception of basic information, you may withhold the remaining information from disclosure under section 552.108(a)(1). ⁽²⁾

In summary, the marked court-filed documents must be released pursuant to section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code. With the exception of basic information, the city may withhold the remaining information 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,

Jennifer Luttrall

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JL/som

Ref: ID# 448580

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestors

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note this office issued Open Records Decision No. 684, a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

2. As our ruling on this information is dispositive, we do not address your remaining argument against its disclosure.

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