February 17. 1975

The Honorable Wilson E. Speir Director Opinion No. H- 529 Texas Department of Public Safety P. 0. Box 4087 **Austin,** Texas 78773 Re: Whether, under theFamily Code, local officials may furnish Texas Department of Public Safety with statistics onjuvenile crime. Dear Colonel Speir:

You have requested **our** opinion concerning the effect of section 51.14 ofthe Family Code on the Department ofPublic Safety’s dutyto compile statistics concerning the number a~nd **naturg~** of criminal offenses committed within the State. V. T. C.S., arts. 4413(14), 4476-15, $5.14.

Article 4413 (14), V. T. C.S., provides in part:

The Bureau [of Identification andRecords] shall collect information concerning thenumber and nature of offenses knowntohave been committed in the State, of the legal steps takenin connection therewith, and such‘other information **aa** may be useful in the study of crime andtheadministration ofjustice. Section 5.14 of article 4476-15 provides:

All law enforcement agencies in this state shall file semiannually with the director a report of all arrests for drug offenses made bythem during the preceeding six months. Such reports shall be made onforms provided by thedirector, and shall contain such information as required therein.

p. 2386. . .

The Honorable Wilson E. Speir page 2 (H-529)

The Department of Public Safety has submitted copies of the forma utilized to collect this information, those being IR-40A (REV l-74) and IR-103. These forms deal only with the nature and number of crimes committed and the age, race, and sex of **the** offender. The forms contain no information which could lead to the identity~mof~ the offender.---mu Section 51.14 of the Family Code provide8 in part:

(a)All filea and records ofajuvenile **court,** a clerk of **court,** or a prosecuting attorney relating toa child who is a party toa proceeding under thio title are open toinspection only by: (1)thejudge, probation officers, andprofearional staff or consultanta of thejuvenile court; (2) an attorney for a party to the proceeding; (3) a public or private agency or institution providing supervision of thechild **by** arrangement ofthejuvenile **court, or**  having cucltodyof the child underjuvenile court order: or (4) with leave ofjuvenile **court,** any other peraon, agency, or institution having a legitimate interest in the proceeding or in the work ofthe court
. . . . (c) Law-enforcement files and records concerning a child shall be kept separate from files and records ofarreate ofadults and ahall be maintained ona local basis only and not sent toa central state or federal depository. (d) Except for files and records relating toa charge for which a child io tranrferred under Section 54.02 of this code toa criminal court for ~prosecution, the law-enforcement files and records are not open to public inspection nor may their contents be disclosed to the public, butinspection ofthe files and records is permitted by:

p. 2387The Honorable Wilron E. Speir page 3 (H-529)

(1)ajuvenile court having the child before it in any proceeding: (2) an attorney for a party to the proceeding: and (3) law-enforcement officers whennecersary for the discharge oftheir official duties. Section 51.16 of the Family Code deals withthesealing ofjuvenile files and records, providing in part: (e) On entry ofthe order: (1)all law-enforcement, prosecuting attorney, clerk of **court,** and juvenile court files and records ordered sealed shall **be** sent to the **court** issuing the order: (2) all files and records of a public or private agency or institution ordered sealed shall be rent~to the court issuing the order; (3) all index references to the files and record8 ordered sealed shall be deleted: (4) thejuvenile court, clerk of **court,** prosecuting attorney, public or private agency or institution, and law-enforcement officers and agencies shall properly reply that no record exists with respect to such person uponinquiry in any matter; and (5) the adjudication shall be vacated and the proceeding dismissed and treated for all purposes, including the purpose of showing a prior finding of delinquency, aa if ithad never occurred. Section 51.14 is designed topreserve the traditional confidentiality offiles and records concerning juvenile proceedingr. Symposium, Texas Family Code, 5 Texas Tech Law Review,p. 533 (1974). However, general statistical datawhich provides no real opportunity for identification of the juvenile offender in no way threatens such confidentiality. We therefore construe the language “records” “relating to child” or “concerning a child”

**p. 2388** .: .

The Honorable Wilson E. Speir page 4 **(H-529)**

as contained in section 51.14 toinclude only those records which furnish a basis for the identification ofthe child. Since the records submitted on forms IR-40A (REV l-74) and IR-103 purruant toarticles 4413(14) and 4476-15, section 5.14, do notprovide such a basis, they may be furnished to the Department of Public Safety. SUMMARY Statistics concerning the nature andnumber of criminal offense8 committed within a particular jurisdiction may be submitted to the Department of Public Safety provided that such statistics furnirh nobasis for identification ofa‘ juvenile offender. .Very truly yourr,

Attorney General of Texas APPROVED:

Y DAVID&i. KENDA,LL. First Assistant

zz?icia C. ROBERT HEATH, Chairman Opinion Committee lg

p. 2389