ATTORNEY GENERAL
Under provisions set out in the Texas Constitution, the Texas Government Code, 
Title 4,  402.042 and numerous statutes, the attorney general is authorized to 
write advisory opinions for state and local officials. These advisory opinions 
are requested by agencies or officials when they are confronted with unique or 
unusually difficult legal questions. The attorney general also determines, under 
authority of the Texas Open Records Act, whether information requested for 
release from governmental agencies may be held from public disclosure. Requests 
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Open Records Decision

ORD-0650 (ORQ-16). Request from The Honorable
 David Sibley, State Senator, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711-2068, 
concerning
 whether Local Government Code chapter 143 contains a law enforcement 
investigative
 exception that allows the release of information from one law enforcement
 agency to another without the consent of the individual under investigation
 or the civil-service commission director when an investigation is taking
 place.


Summary of Decision
Absent federal authority,
 a city police department must not release to a federal law enforcement agency
 information made confidential under sec.143.089(g) of the Local Government
 Code. A city police department should refer a request for information in
 a fire fighter's or police officer's personnel file to the civil-service
 director or the director's designee.


TRD-9617046