 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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August 16, 2012 Mr. Gregory A. Alicie Open Records Specialist Baytown Police Department 3200 North Main Street Baytown, Texas 77521 OR2012-12963 Dear Mr. Alicie: 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# 462994. The Baytown Police Department (the "department") received a request for a specified incident report. You state you are redacting social security numbers under section 552.147(b) of the Government Code. (1) You claim portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the information you have submitted. 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. This exception encompasses information that other statutes make confidential such as section 261.201(a) of the Family Code, which provides in pertinent part: (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. (l) Before a child or a parent, managing conservator, or other legal representative of a child may inspect or copy a record or file concerning the child under Subsection (k), the custodian of the record or file must redact: . . . (3) the identity of the person who made the report. Fam. Code § 261.201(a), (k), (l)(3). Upon review, we find the submitted information was used or developed in an investigation of alleged or suspected child abuse. See id. § 261.001(1) (defining abuse for purposes of Fam. Code ch. 261); see also id. § 101.003(a) (defining "child" for purposes of this section as person under 18 years of age who is not and has not been married or who has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes). Accordingly, we conclude the submitted information is within the scope of section 261.201. However, the submitted information reveals that the requestor is a parent of the alleged child victim at issue. Furthermore, the requestor is not the individual alleged to have committed the abuse. Thus, the submitted information may not be withheld from the requestor on the basis of section 261.201(a). See id. § 261.201(k). However, section 261.201(l)(3) states the identity of the reporting party must be withheld. Id. § 261.201(l)(3). Accordingly, the department must withhold the identifying information of the reporting party you have marked, in addition to the information we have marked, under section 552.101of the Government Code in conjunction with section 261.201(l)(3) of the Family Code. As you raise no exceptions for the remaining information, it must be released. (2) 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, Melanie J. Villars Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division MJV/dls Ref: ID# 462994 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures) Footnotes1. Section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact a living person's social security number from public release without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office under the Act. See Gov't Code § 552.147(b). 2. We note the requestor has a special right of access to the information being released in this instance. Because such information is confidential with respect to the general public, if the department receives another request for this information from a different requestor, the department must again seek a ruling from this office.
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |