 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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June 13, 2012 Ms. Tiffany Bull Assistant City Attorney Arlington Police Department Mail Stop 04-0200 P.O. Box 1065 Arlington, Texas 76004-1065 OR2012-09110 Dear Ms. Bull: 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# 456168 (Ref. # 7285-032712). The Arlington Police Department (the "department") received a request for specified reports involving the requestor. You claim that the submitted 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. 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. Section 552.101 encompasses information made confidential by other statutes, including section 261.201 of the Family Code, which provides in relevant part the following: (a) [T]he following information is confidential, is not subject to public release under [the Act] and may be disclosed only for purposes consistent with this code and applicable federal or state law or under rules adopted by an investigating agency: (1) a report of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect made under this chapter and the identity of the person making the report; and (2) except as otherwise provided in this section, the files, reports, records, communications, audiotapes, videotapes, and working papers used or developed in an investigation under this chapter or in providing services as a result of an investigation. . . . (k) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an investigating agency, other than the [Texas Department of Family and Protective Services] or the Texas Youth Commission, on request, shall provide to the parent, managing conservator, or other legal representative of a child who is the subject of reported abuse or neglect, or to the child if the child is at least 18 years of age, information concerning the reported abuse or neglect that would otherwise be confidential under this section. The investigating agency shall withhold information under this subsection if the parent, managing conservator, or other legal representative of the child requesting the information is alleged to have committed the abuse or neglect. Fam. Code § 261.201(a), (k). We find report number 10-46802 was used or developed in an investigation of alleged or suspected child abuse under chapter 261 of the Family Code, so as to fall within the scope of section 261.201(a). See id. § 261.001(1)(E) (definition of child abuse includes sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault under Penal Code sections 22.011 and 22.021); see also Penal Code § 22.011(c)(1) (defining "child" for purposes of Penal Code sections 22.011 and 22.021 as a person younger than 17 years of age). We note the requestor is the child victim named in the report. However, at the time of the request, the requestor was not eighteen years of age. Therefore, the requestor does not have a right of accesss to the submitted information. See Fam. Code § 261.201(k). Accordingly, report number 10-46802 must be withheld in its entirety under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 261.201 of the Family Code. (1) 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. Section 552.101 encompasses information that other statutes make confidential, such as section 58.007 of the Family Code. Juvenile law enforcement records relating to conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 are confidential under section 58.007. For purposes of section 58.007, "child" means a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age. See Fam. Code § 51.02(2). Section 58.007 provides, in pertinent part, as follows: (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 data 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. Id. § 58.007(c). Upon review, we find report numbers 10-13486, 10-13485, and 09-24809 involve juvenile delinquent conduct occurring after September 1, 1997, and are, therefore, subject to section 58.007. See id. § 51.03(a) (defining "delinquent conduct" for purposes of section 58.007). None of the exceptions in section 58.007 appear to apply; therefore, report numbers 10-13486, 10-13485, and 09-24809 are confidential under section 58.007(c) of the Family Code and must be withheld in their entirety under section 552.101 of the Government Code. (2) In summary, the department must withhold report number 10-46802 under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 261.201 of the Family Code. The department must withhold report numbers 10-13486, 10-13485, and 09-24809 under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family 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, Vanessa Burgess Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division VB/dls Ref: ID# 456168 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures) Footnotes1. As our ruling is dispositive for this information, we do not address your remaining arguments against its disclosure. 2. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining arguments against disclosure.
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