August 14, 2012

Ms. Michelle M. Kretz

Assistant City Attorney

City of Fort Worth

1000 Throckmorton Street, 3rd Floor

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

OR2012-12759

Dear Ms. Kretz:

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# 461865 (Fort Worth PIR No. W017348).

The Fort Worth Police Department (the "department") received a request for three specified crime lab reports. You contend the department may decline to comply with this request pursuant to section 552.028 of the Government Code. We have considered your argument and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.028 of the Government Code provides in part:

(a) A governmental body is not required to accept or comply with a request for information from:

(1) an individual who is imprisoned or confined in a correctional facility; or

(2) an agent of that individual, other than that individual's attorney when the attorney is requesting information that is subject to disclosure under [the Act].

(b) This section does not prohibit a governmental body from disclosing to an individual described by Subsection (a)(1), or that individual's agent, information held by the governmental body pertaining to that individual.

(c) In this section, "correctional facility" means:

(1) a secure correctional facility, as defined by Section 1.07, Penal Code;

(2) a secure correctional facility and a secure detention facility, as defined by Section 51.02, Family Code; and

(3) a place designated by the law of this state, another state, or the federal government for the confinement of a person arrested for, charged with, or convicted of a criminal offense.

Gov't Code § 552.028(a)-(c). You state the requestor is the grandparent of an incarcerated individual. However, the requestor does not indicate she is acting as her grandson's agent, and you provide no further details to explain how the requestor is acting on the incarcerated individual's behalf. Thus, we conclude you have not established the requestor is, in fact, acting as the incarcerated individual's agent. We therefore find section 552.028 of the Government Code does not permit the department to decline to comply with this request. As you raise no exceptions against disclosure, the submitted 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,

Jonathan Miles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JM/bhf

Ref: ID# 461865

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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