InstantNewsKaty.com

In an unsigned letter dated Dec. 22, the Texas Attorney General’s Office ruled that Katy ISD can withhold the police report on the Morton Ranch High School hazing investigation.

InstantNewsKaty had filed an open records request to review the police report and other investigative materials complied by the Katy ISD Police Department during its investigation of the incident.

The district requested the ruling, citing two exceptions to the Texas Public Information Act as basis to withhold the documents. In the district’s request to the AG’s Office, Public Records Manager Leslie Garvin cited a provision in the public records law that allowed documents to be withheld “if the release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation or prosecution of crime.”

At the time of the letter, charges against the seven-member varsity cheerleading squad were still pending in Harris County courts. Since that time, all defendants have agreed to a pre-trial diversion program, a form of probation.

Garvin also cited a second section of the law that allows “law enforcement records and files concerning a child” to be withheld.

In the letter, Garvin also noted that similar requests for the records were filed by representatives of Inside Edition and the Houston Chronicle.  

In its response to the school district, the AG’s Office agreed the documents could be withheld on the basis of the cheerleaders’ ages.

“We have considered your arguments and the submitted information and have determined that in accordance with section 58.007 of the Family Code, you must withhold the submitted information,” the AG’s letter said.

The ruling to protect the identify of those involved appeared to directly conflict with the fact that all of the accused were 17 or 18 years of age and charged in adult criminal court. Additionally, the names of all seven, as well as details of their probation, were released by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Attempts to clarify the basis for the ruling with representatives of the Texas Attorney General’s Office were unsuccessful due to the holidays.