ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

Ms. Anne Heiligenstein, Commissioner 

Texas Department of Family and 

Protective Services 

701 West 51st Street 

Austin, Texas 78751 

Dear Commissioner Heiligenstein: 

August 12, 2011 

Opinion No. GA-0879 

Re: Whether a law enforcement agency is required 

to furnish information about alleged child abuse or 

neglect by a person responsible for the child's care, 

custody, or welfare to the Department of Family 

and Protective Services (RQ-0957-GA) 

You ask whether a law enforcement agency is required to furnish information about alleged 

child abuse or neglect by a person responsible for the child's care, custody, or welfare to the 

Department of Family and Protective Services (the "Department,,).l 

You indicate that in January 2011 a special investigator of the Department requested 

information from a municipal police department (the "City"). Request Letter at 1. Subsequently, 

the City referred the request to its open records division, which sought an open records letter ruling 

from the Office of Attorney General, contending that the requested information was excepted from 

disclosure under section 552.101, Government Code, as (I) information deemed confidential by 

section 261.201 of the Family Code; and (2) information implicating common-law privacy.2 You 

argue that a law enforcement agency is statutorily required to furnish the information to the 

Department. Request Letter at 1. 

Section 261.105 of the Family Code provides, in relevant part: 

(a) All reports received by a local or state law enforcement 

agency that allege abuse or neglect by a person responsible for a 

lLetter from Anne Heiligenstein, Commissioner, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, to 

Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas at 1 (Mar. 15,2011), https:l!www.oag.state.tx.us!opinlindexjq.shtml 

("Request Letter'"). 

'See Letter fromB. Chase Griffith, Brown & Hofmeister, L.L.P., to Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General 

of Texas (Jan. 24, 2011) (attached to Request Letter as Exhibit B). This office responded to the City with an Open 

Records Letter Ruling. See Tex. Att'y Gen. OR2011-04507, https:!!www.oag.state.tx.us!openlindex_orl.php. 
Ms. Anne Heiligenstein - Page 2 (GA-OS79) 

child's care, custody, or welfare shall be referred immediately to the 

department or the designated agency. 

(b) The department or designated agency shall immediately 

notify the appropriate state or local law enforcement agency of any 

report it receives, other than a report from a law enforcement agency, 

that concerns the suspected abuse or neglect of a child or death. of a 

child from abuse or neglect. 

TEX. F AM. CODE ANN. § 261.1 05 (West Supp. 2010). In chapter 261, the word "Department" means 

"the Department of Family and Protective Services." Id. § 261.001(2) (West 200S). Independently 

of the requirements of the Public Information Act, section 261.105 mandates cooperation between 

the Department and a local law enforcement agency by specifically requiring that a report alleging 

abuse or neglect by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare must be referred 

immediately to the Department or a designated agency after it is received by a local law enforcement 

agency. Id. § 261.105(a) (West Supp. 2010). 

Moreover, another statute complements the policy established under section 261.105. 

Section 261.301(a) provides: 

(a) With assistance from the appropriate state or local law 

enforcement agency as provided by this section, the department or 

designated agency shall make a prompt and thorough investigation of 

a report of child abuse or neglect allegedly committed by a person 

responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare. 

Id. § 261.301(a) (West 200S). These two statutes, taken together, contemplate a complete and total 

sharing of information between the Department and a local law enforcement agency so long as 

the alleged child abuse or neglect is "committed by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, 

or welfare." Id. We conclude that a law enforcement agency is therefore required to furnish 

information about alleged child abuse or neglect by a person responsible for the child's care, custody, 

or welfare to the Department of Family and Protective Services. 
Ms. Anne Heiligenstein - Page 3 (GA-0879) 

SUMMARY 

Pursuant to sections 261.105 and 261.30 1 of the Family Code, 

a law enforcement agency is required to furnish information about 

alleged child abuse or neglect by a person responsible for the child's 

care, custody, or welfare to the Texas Department of Family and 

Protective Services. 

DANIEL T. HODGE 

First Assistant Attorney General 

DAVID J. SCHENCK 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

JASON BOATRIGHT 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Rick Gilpin 

Very truly yours, 

Attorney General of Texas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee