August 1, 2012

Mr. George E. Hyde

For City of Carrollton

Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal, P.C.

2500 West William Cannon, Suite 609

Austin, Texas 78745

OR2012-12004

Dear Mr. Hyde:

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# 460911.

The City of Carrollton (the "city"), which you represent, received two requests from the same requestor for eight categories of information related to a specified incident. You state you will redact information subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.108(a)(2) 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 . . . 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). Section 552.108(a)(2) is applicable only if the information at issue relates to a concluded criminal case that did not result in a conviction or deferred adjudication. 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 the governmental body seeks to withhold. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A). You state the submitted information concerns a criminal investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication. Based on this representation and our review, we conclude section 552.108(a)(2) is applicable to the submitted information.

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). Basic information refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). We note basic information does not include information subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. Thus, with the exception of basic information, the city may withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(2). The basic information must be released.

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# 460911

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Section 552.130 permits a governmental body to redact the information described in subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3), such as driver's license numbers, without the necessity of seeking a decision from the attorney general. See Gov't Code § 552.130(c). If a governmental body redacts such information, it must notify the requestor in accordance with section 552.130(e). See id. § 552.130(d), (e).

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