December 18, 2012

Ms. Cheryl Elliott Thornton

Assistant County Attorney

Harris County Attorney's Office

1019 Congress Street, 15th Floor

Houston, Texas 77002

OR2012-20381

Dear Ms. Thornton:

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# 478525 (C.A. File No. 12PIA0579).

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences (the "institute") received a request for a specified autopsy report. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

We note the requested information was the subject of a previous request, as a result of which this office issued Open Records Letter No. 2012-19140 (2012). In that decision, we concluded the institute may withhold the requested information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. As you do not indicate there has been any change in the law, facts, and circumstances on which the previous decision is based, we conclude the institute may rely on Open Records Letter No. 2012-19140 as a previous determination and continue to withhold the requested information on the basic of the previous decision. ⁽¹⁾ See Open Records Decision No. 673 at 6-7 (2001) (listing elements of first type of previous determination under Gov't Code § 552.301(a)).

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,

James W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/bhf

Ref: ID# 478525

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As we are able to make this determination, we need not address the institute's claim under section 552.108 of the Government Code.

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