April 5, 2012

Mr. Whitt L. Wyatt

Assistant City Attorney

City of Richardson

P.O. Box 831078

Richardson, Texas 75083-1078

OR2012-04965

Dear Mr. Wyatt:

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# 449903 (File No. 12-065).

The Richardson Police Department (the "department") received a request for information related to three specified incidents. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure pursuant to sections 552.101, 552.108, and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

We first note the submitted information includes court documents. 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). Thus, the court documents we have marked are subject to disclosure under section 552.022(a)(17). Although you seek to withhold the court documents under section 552.108 of the Government Code, that section is a discretionary exception to disclosure that protects a governmental body's interests and does not make information confidential under the Act. See id. § 552.007; Open Records Decision Nos. 665 at 2 n.5 (2000) (discretionary exceptions generally), 177 at 3 (1977) (statutory predecessor to Gov't Code § 552.108 subject to waiver). Therefore, the marked court documents may not be withheld under section 552.108 of the Government Code. As you raise no further exceptions to disclosure for this information, the marked court 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 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. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state report numbers 201200000554 and 201200001386 relate to pending criminal investigations. Based on this representation and our review, we conclude the release of report numbers 201200000554 and 201200001386 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. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e., 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases). Accordingly, we find section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to these reports.

Section 552.108(a)(2) excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . it is information that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime only in relation to an investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication[.]" Gov't Code §552.108(a)(2). You state report number 201200000594 relates to a criminal investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication. Accordingly, we find section 552.108(a)(2) is applicable to report number 201200000594.

We note section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Id. § 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 (1976) (summarizing types of information considered to be basic information). Thus, with the exception of the court documents and basic information, the department may withhold report numbers 201200000554 and 201200001386 under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code and report number 201200000594 under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾

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 Burnett

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JB/dls

Ref: ID# 449903

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining arguments against disclosure of this information.

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