Court Opinion

ID: 9647143
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 13:24:44.687311+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:45.831903
License: Public Domain

HECHT, Justice,
joined by CORNYN and GAMMAGE, JJ.,
dissenting.
The threshold issue is whether this Court, the Supreme Court of Texas, is the only court in the State which can review refusals of officers of the Executive Department to disclose information requested under the Texas Open Records Act, Tex.Gov’t Code *682§§ 552.001-353. As the Court reads the Act:
♦ Only the Supreme Court can review nondisclosure decisions by six State officers— the Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Treasurer, Commissioner of the General Land Office, and Attorney General.
♦ This is appropriate “because an open records request that an executive officer has resisted may well have general significance and require a speedy remedy.” Ante at 674.
♦ A district court (or county court with concurrent jurisdiction) may review nondisclosure decisions of every other governmental body subject to the Act.
♦ Nondisclosure decisions of the Governor may be reviewed only by a district court (or county court with concurrent jurisdiction), or not at all (the Court does not say which), even though the Governor must comply with the Act and could be charged with a misdemeanor for failure to do so.
♦ The Legislature really ought to reconsider all this.
In other words, the “general significance” of a few state officers’ refusals to disclose information requires “a speedy remedy” that only the Supreme Court of Texas can provide, but the Governor’s refusal to disclose information is either beyond review altogether or is less significant and can be dawdled over — and while the Legislature clearly intended this scheme of review and even had a good reason for it, the Legislature ought to try something different. These are but a few of the anomalies in the Act as the Court sees it.
I do not agree that the Court’s construction of TORA is reasonable or even plausible. It is certainly deplorable policy. This Court has plenty to do without taking upon itself sole responsibility for reviewing every open records dispute involving six large state offices. Even if we needed this extra burden (which cannot seriously be suggested), there is no reason why the Court should assume it for these six offices and not for everyone subject to TORA. TORA, as the Court portrays it, is a freak, but not because it was misbegotten by the Legislature; rather, because it has been tortured by the Court. I would hold that all refusals to disclose information made public by TORA may, and should, be reviewed by the district court, or a county court with concurrent jurisdiction. I therefore respectfully dissent.
I
TORA declares “the policy of this state that each person is entitled, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, at all times to complete information about the affairs of government and the official acts of public officials and employees.” Tex.Gov’t Code § 552.001. The Act defines “public information”, id. §§ 552.021-.123, designates the chief administrative officer of a governmental body as the officer for public records, id. § 552.201, and requires that officer to “promptly produce public information for inspection, duplication, or both, in the offices of the governmental body on application by any person to the officer”, id. § 552.221(a). If a governmental body wishes to withhold information, it must timely request the Attorney General to opine on whether the information is subject to disclosure, id. § 552.301(a), failing which the information is presumed public, id. § 552.302. The Attorney General is required to “promptly render a decision”, id. § 552.306(a), and if he refuses to do so he may be compelled by mandamus. See Houston Chronicle Publishing Co. v. Mattox, 767 S.W.2d 695, 697-698 (Tex.1989). If the Attorney General rules that information is public, the officer for public records or his agent must make it available to a person requesting it. Failure to comply is both official misconduct and a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and confinement for not more than six months. Tex.Gov’t Code § 552.353(e) & (f). However, the officer or agent has an affirmative defense to prosecution if he “reasonably believed that public access to the requested records was not required” and—
not later than the 10th calendar day after the receipt of a decision by the attorney general that the information is public, filed a petition for a declaratory judgment, a writ of mandamus, or both, against the attorney general in a Travis County district court seeking relief from compliance *683with the decision of the attorney general, and a petition is pending.
Id. § 552.353(b)(3). It is also a defense to prosecution that someone other than the officer or agent (such as a person who supplied the information to the governmental body) has a pending “cause of action seeking relief from compliance with the decision of the attorney general”. Id. § 552.353(c).
TORA also provides for civil enforcement:
A person requesting information or the attorney general may file suit for a writ of mandamus compelling a governmental body to make information available for public inspection if the governmental body refuses to request an attorney general’s decision ... or refuses to supply public information or information that the attorney general has determined is a public record.
Id. § 552.321. Section 552.323(a) provides that “[i]n an action brought under Section 552.321 or Section 552.353(b)(3), the court may assess costs of litigation and reasonable attorney fees incurred by a plaintiff or defendant who substantially prevails.” Id. § 552.323(a). In exercising this discretion, “the court shall consider whether the conduct of the governmental body had a reasonable basis in law and whether the litigation was brought in good faith.” Id. § 552.323(b).
The term “governmental body” is used not only in the civil enforcement provisions but throughout the Act. TORA defines a “governmental body” as:
(1) a board, commission, department, committee, institution, agency, or office that is within or is created by the executive or legislative branch of state government and that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members;
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(10) the part, section, or portion of an organization, corporation, commission, committee, institution, or agency that spends or that is supported in whole or in part by public funds.
Id. § 552.003(a). It is important to note that a “governmental body” is an entity, not an individual. Thus, for example, the Office of Comptroller of Public Accounts is a “governmental body” within the meaning of TORA, while the Comptroller himself is not.
II
As I have already observed, TORA permits either the person requesting information or the attorney general to file suit for a writ of mandamus compelling a governmental body to make information available for public inspection. Id. § 552.321. But nowhere does the Act prescribe where such suit must be filed. Thus, it may be filed in any court with jurisdiction.
A
The district court has “exclusive, appellate, and original jurisdiction of all actions, proceedings, and remedies, except in cases where exclusive, appellate, or original jurisdiction may be conferred by this Constitution or other law on some other court, tribunal, or administrative body.” Tex. Const, art. 5, § 8; see Tex.Gov’t Code § 24.007. As part of this general grant of authority, district courts have jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus “not dependent on the necessity to enforce a jurisdiction otherwise acquired.” Love v. Wilcox, 119 Tex. 256, 28 S.W.2d 515, 519 (1930). Thus, the district court has jurisdiction to entertain mandamus proceedings brought under section 552.321 unless that jurisdiction is otherwise restricted by law as permitted by the Constitution.
The working assumption in a host of TORA eases has been that jurisdiction lies in the district court. See, e.g., Shackelford v. City of Abilene, 585 S.W.2d 665 (Tex.1979); Industrial Found. of the South v. Texas Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 672 (Tex.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931, 97 S.Ct. 1550, 51 L.Ed.2d 774 (1977); Moore v. Collins, 897 S.W.2d 496, 498 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1995, no writ); City of San Antonio v. Texas Att’y General, 851 S.W.2d 946, 947 (Tex.App.—Austin 1993, writ denied); Hancock v. State Bd. of Ins., 797 S.W.2d 379, 380 (Tex.App.—Austin 1990, no writ); AH. Belo Corp. v. Southern Methodist Univ., 734 S.W.2d 720, 721-722 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1987, writ denied); Hubert v. Harte-Hanks Texas Newspapers, 652 S.W.2d 546, 547 (Tex.App.—Austin 1983, writ ref'd n.r.e); *684Houston Chronicle Publishing Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177, 182 (Tex.Civ.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e., 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex.1976) (per cu-riam). One court has specifically held that the district court is the appropriate forum for a mandamus under the Act. Johnson v. Lynaugh, 789 S.W.2d 704, 706 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1990, orig. proceeding) (mandamus relief sought against Executive Director of Texas Department of Criminal Justice); see also Texas Dep’t of Public Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408, 410-411 (Tex.App.—Austin 1992, no writ); Morales v. Ellen, 840 S.W.2d 519, 522-523 (Tex.App.—El Paso 1992, writ denied).
The Court holds, however, that the district court’s jurisdiction to issue mandamus under section 552.321 of TORA is limited by section 22.002(c) of the Government Code, which states:
Only the supreme court has the authority to issue a writ of mandamus or injunction, or any other mandatory or compulsory writ or process, against any of the officers of the executive departments of the government of this state to order or compel the performance of a judicial, ministerial, or discretionary act or duty that, by state law, the officer or officers are authorized to perform.
This provision does limit the mandamus jurisdiction of the district court, but only as “against any of the officers of the executive departments”, not the executive departments themselves. It is not clear who these officers are. See Gordon v. Lake, 356 S.W.2d 138 (Tex.1962) (Secretary of State); United Production Corp. v. Hughes, 152 S.W.2d 327 (Tex.1941) (Land Commissioner); Herring v. Houston Nat’l Exch. Bank, 113 Tex. 264, 253 S.W. 813, 815-816 (1923) (similar language in another statute not limited to officers listed in article I, section 4 of the Constitution); see also Texas Liquor Control Bd. v. Continental Distilling Sales Co., 199 S.W.2d 1009, 1012-1013 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1947, writ ref'd n.r.e.) (limiting officers of the state to those listed in article I, section 4 of the Constitution). In any event, section 552.321 of TORA authorizes suits for mandamus against governmental bodies, not against government officers. As already noted, the term “governmental body” defined in TORA does not include individuals. Tex.Gov’t Code § 552.003.
This distinction is significant. Section 22.002(a) of the Government Code states:
The supreme court or a justice of the supreme court may issue writs of proce-dendo and certiorari and all writs of quo warranto and mandamus agreeable to the principles of law regulating those writs, against a district judge, a court of appeals or a justice of a court of appeals, or any officer of state government except the governor, the court of criminal appeals, or a judge of the court of criminal appeals.
We held long ago that “any officer of state government” does not include a board of officers, and therefore this Court lacks jurisdiction to mandamus such a board. Betts v. Johnson, 73 S.W. 4 (Tex.1903). The district court, however, may mandamus state boards. Industrial Found, of the South, 540 S.W.2d at 672.
Thus section 22.002(c) does not limit the district court’s constitutional jurisdiction over mandamus proceedings against governmental bodies, as distinguished from government officials. Inasmuch as section 552.321 of TORA authorizes mandamus suits against governmental bodies, section 22.002(c) does not preclude such suits from being filed in the district court. Though TORA imposes responsibilities on public records officers and their agents as well as governmental bodies, it authorizes mandamus suits against governmental bodies only. The Legislature must be presumed to have recognized the distinction.
In fact, it has. When the Legislature has adopted a scheme of substantive rights and remedies, and conferred as part of that scheme original jurisdiction upon this Court, it has done so expressly. See, e.g., Tex. AgRIC.Code § 57.103(b) (refusal by the Agricultural Development Board to approve a bond issue “solely on the basis of law” may be challenged by mandamus action in the Supreme Court); id. § 58.036 (payment of Texas Agricultural Finance Authority bonds or duties of Agriculture Commissioner with respect to those bonds may be enforced “in *685the state supreme court by mandamus or other appropriate proceeding”); Tex.Elec. Code § 273.061 (“performance of any duty imposed by law in connection with the holding of an election or a political party convention” may be enforced by mandamus in the supreme court or a court of appeals); Tex. Gov’t Code § 404.126(d) (payment of tax and revenue anticipation notes and duties associated therewith “may be enforced in the state supreme court by mandamus or other appropriate proceeding.”); id. § 465.028 (payment of Texas National Research Laboratory bonds and associated duties of commission “may be enforced in the state supreme court by mandamus or other appropriate proceeding”).
Allowing review of nondisclosure decisions in the district court is consistent with the general scheme of the Act. As already noted, section 552.353(b)(3) contemplates actions in the district court by government officers against the attorney general to avoid having to disclose information. Section 552.323(a) provides that “the court” may assess costs and attorney fees “[i]n an action brought under Section 552.321 or Section 552.353(b)(3)”. In juxtaposing actions brought by governmental litigants resisting disclosure, and by litigants seeking to compel disclosure, and treating them alike for purposes of considering and awarding attorney fees, the statute implies that both types of actions can and should be brought in the same court.
B
The jurisdiction of this Court, the court of appeals, and constitutional and statutory county courts to entertain original actions for writs of mandamus is prescribed not by the Constitution but by statute. Tex. Const, art. V, § 3 (“[t]he Legislature may confer original jurisdiction on the Supreme Court to issue writs of quo warranto and mandamus in such cases as may be specified, except as against the Governor of the State”); id. art. V, § 6 (besides appellate jurisdiction, the courts of appeals “shall have such other jurisdiction, original and appellate, as may be prescribed by law”); id. art. V, § 16 (“[t]he County Court has jurisdiction as provided by law”, and “County Court judges shall have the power to issue writs necessary to enforce their jurisdiction”); id. art. V, § 1 (“[t]he Legislature may establish such other courts as it may deem necessary and prescribe the jurisdiction and organization thereof’). The Legislature has not conferred on the courts of appeals or the constitutional county courts, or on the statutory county courts in general, the broad mandamus jurisdiction necessary to review nondisclosure decisions under TORA Tex.Gov’t Code § 22.221 (courts of appeals); id. § 25.0003 (statutory county courts); id. §§ 26.050-.051 (constitutional county courts). The jurisdiction of some statutory county courts is concurrent with that of the district court, however, and in those instances, the county courts would have jurisdiction of mandamus actions under TORA. E.g., id. § 25.0732 (El Paso county courts at law).
This Court’s mandamus jurisdiction, as it pertains to reviewing nondisclosure decisions under TORA, is found in section 22.002(a) of the Government Code, which, as noted above, authorizes the Court to issue writs of mandamus against “any officer of state government except the governor”. This Court has long limited its construction of an “officer of the state government” in this provision to the heads of state departments who are charged with the general administration of state affairs and must keep their offices at the seat of state government. See Chemical Bank & Trust Co. v. Falkner, 369 S.W.2d 427, 430-431 (Tex.1963) (mandamus granted against state banking commissioner, citing Betts). The Court’s jurisdiction does not extend to governmental bodies, as opposed to government officials. Betts, 73 S.W. at 5. If section 552.321 of TORA means that TORA decisions can be reviewed only in mandamus actions against governmental bodies and in no other way, then the general grant of jurisdiction in section 22.002(a) could not apply and this Court would have no jurisdiction in this case.
I think section 552.321 rather clearly imposes no such limitation. It is entirely permissive: “[a] person ... may file suit for a writ of mandamus ... [against] a governmental body_” There is no reason to *686limit review to one means, especially when other interested parties are not similarly limited by the Act. See Tex.Gov’t Code § 552.353. Neither the language nor any apparent purpose of section 552.321 prohibits a person from filing suit for a writ of mandamus against a government official. If the official is “an officer of state government” within the meaning of section 22.002(a), then this Court has jurisdiction to grant relief.
As a rule, however, this Court does not exercise its mandamus jurisdiction when the same relief can be obtained in a lower court, unless the necessity of immediate relief or the importance of the issues to the State as a whole justify this Court’s intervention. Hidalgo County Water Improvement Dist. No. 2 v. Blalock, 157 Tex. 206, 301 S.W.2d 593, 594 (1957); Love, 28 S.W.2d at 521; see also LaRouche v. Hannah, 822 S.W.2d 632, 633-634 (Tex.1992). Because nondisclosure decisions under TORA can be fully reviewed by the district court, this Court should not exercise its original jurisdiction.
Ill
Just as section 552.321 is permissive rather than exclusive and does not prohibit mandamus actions against individuals, it also does not prohibit remedies otherwise available.
The Texas Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act provides that “[a] person ... whose rights ... are affected by a statute ... may have determined any question of construction or validity arising under the ... statute ... and obtain a declaration of rights ... thereunder.” Tex.Civ.PRAC. & Rem.Code § 37.004(a). Litigants have used declaratory judgments in open records suits since TORA’s inception. Persons seeking information under TORA have sometimes sued for declaratory judgment rather than mandamus. E.g., City of San Antonio, 851 S.W.2d at 947; City of Abilene v. Shackelford, 572 S.W.2d 742, 743 (Tex.Civ.App.—Eastland 1978), rev’d on other grounds, 585 S.W.2d 665 (Tex.1979); Houston Chronicle Publishing, 531 S.W.2d at 181. Others have sued for declaratory judgment in addition to mandamus. Ellen, 840 S.W.2d at 519; Southern Methodist Univ. v. Times Herald Printing Co., 729 S.W.2d 129 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1987, no writ); Calvert v. Employees Retirement Sys., 648 S.W.2d 418 (Tex.App.—Austin 1983, writ ref'd n.r.e.). Suits for declaratory judgment clearly afford disputants a means of resolving controversies under TORA.
In fact, TORA envisions suits for declaratory judgment as part of its general scheme. Section 552.353(b)(3) allows a public records officer or his agent to sue for declaratory judgment in a Travis County district court to establish an affirmative defense to criminal prosecution for refusing to release records. There is little question that a person requesting information will obtain it if successful in a declaratory judgment action, as the government official’s continued failure to disclose the information following final judgment would result in criminal penalties under TORA. Tex.Gov’t Code § 552.353. Moreover, it may generally be supposed that state officials will follow the law. Texas Educ. Agency v. Leeper, 893 S.W.2d 432, 446 (Tex.1994).
The availability of review of a nondisclosure decision by action for declaratory judgment would ordinarily preclude relief by mandamus action. To effectuate its strong policy of openness in government, TORA gives litigants a choice of remedies. The availability of relief by action for declaratory judgment, however, is a further reason why this Court should not exercise its jurisdiction in this case.
IV
TORA’s review scheme as I have described it has the virtue of simplicity. Every refusal to disclose information can first be reviewed in the district court by suit either for mandamus or declaratory judgment, or both. Any factual issues raised can readily be resolved. Full appellate review can be afforded. See Anderson v. City of Seven Points, 806 S.W.2d 791, 792 n. 1, 794 (Tex.1991).
The Court’s view of TORA’s review scheme is complicated and confused. Review of the decisions of six state officials — the Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Treasurer, Commissioner of the General Land Office, and Attorney General — can be had only in *687this Court. This is justified, according to the Court, because of the “general significance” of these officials’ decisions and the necessity of a “speedy remedy”. Review of the decisions of every other state official is committed to the district court. The Court makes no attempt to justify its generalization that refusals of the Comptroller to release public information are of more “general significance” than refusals of, say, the Commissioner of Education. Nor does it explain why one decision requires a speedier remedy than another, or why relief in this Court is speedier than relief in the district court. Certain issues under TORA are clearly committed to the district court. Tex.Gov’t Code § 552.353. District courts are quite capable of reviewing significant open records decisions as well as insignificant ones, and of doing so as expeditiously as this Court.
The Court is not clear on whether nondisclosure decisions of the Governor can be reviewed only in the district court or not at all. If the former, the Court fails to explain why decisions of the Comptroller are of more “general significance” than those of the Governor, so that review by this Court is necessary in one case but not the other. If the latter — that is, if mandamus is the exclusive means of reviewing nondisclosure decisions, and mandamus does not lie against the Governor — the Court construes TORA to afford no relief except criminal punishment against one very large component of the Executive Department, the Governor’s Office.
The Court’s view is incongruous with TORA’s scheme of judicial review. TORA allows government officials to sue the Attorney General both for a writ of mandamus and a declaratory judgment. Tex.Gov’t Code § 552.353(b)(3). Persons seeking information from some governmental bodies may obtain judicial assistance from district courts. Id. § 552.321. Others, however, according to the Court, can obtain relief only from this Court.
In the Court’s view, the Comptroller could sue the Attorney General in district court to avoid release of information. The Attorney General, however, could not countersue in district court, but only in the Supreme Court. The Court would also subject the Attorney General to concurrent suits in the district court and this Court based on different parts of the same controversy — depending on what party initiated the proceeding. If, for example, the Comptroller disputed part of an Attorney General’s decision deeming some information public, and sought to avoid disclosure of that information, the Comptroller’s remedy would be by a suit in district court in Travis County. If, however, the party requesting the decision was also unhappy with the Attorney General’s decision, deeming other related information to be confidential, that party would be obliged to seek review by a mandamus action against the Comptroller in this Court. The Attorney General potentially could be a petitioner and a respondent in simultaneous actions, arising out of the same controversy and open records decision, in two separate courts. No logic supports splitting review of open records decisions between the district court and this Court. See Kidder v. Hall, 113 Tex. 49, 251 S.W. 497, 498 (1923) (dismissing, on several grounds, a mandamus proceeding seeking to compel Commissioner of Banking to allow a claim against an insolvent bank; although statute did not specify in which “court” to bring rejected claims, “[w]e know of no reason why the Legislature should have permitted contests of approved claims in one court, and have prescribed another court to establish rejected claims”).
Perhaps most puzzling of all is the Court’s Janus-faced view of whether TORA’s review procedures are appropriate. Justifying this Court’s exclusive review of nondisclosure decisions, the Court says:
Our original jurisdiction exists when there is “some special reason for its exercise,” ... and to preserve the separation of powers between the branches of state government. We have been empowered to grant writs against executive officers because a mandamus proceeding against one of them ordinarily involves questions of general public import.... We conclude that the legislature intended this Court to exercise its jurisdiction over executive officers, in part because an open records request that an executive officer has resisted may well *688have general significance and require a speedy remedy.
Ante at 673-74. A few pages later the Court requests relief from the Legislature:
We invite the legislature to consider whether mandamus is the appropriate remedy against a government executive or agency, or whether a court order and/or judgment declaring the requested records to be public information would be adequate. We further suggest that the legislature exercise its constitutional authority to specify which courts are to have jurisdiction over remedial actions to enforce TORA.
Ante at 681. I am at a loss to understand why the Court thinks the Legislature should reconsider a statutory scheme of judicial review when the Court believes that the Legislature intended to adopt the scheme, and also believes that the scheme serves an important purpose.
Construing TORA need not deform it. The Court’s construction does just that, and for this reason alone is unjustified.
V
The Comptroller’s Office has refused to disclose all the information requested by A & T. As required by TORA, the Comptroller requested an Attorney General’s opinion, which was at least partially favorable to A & T. After A & T filed this proceeding, the Attorney General withdrew his opinion, apparently in accordance with a policy of withdrawing open records opinions when litigation is pending. This Court casts itself in the position of reviewing A & T’s requests without a factual record, relying solely on the briefs of counsel and oral argument. I do not believe TORA imposes upon this Court responsibility as sole arbiter of open records disputes involving the Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Treasurer, Commissioner of the General Land Office, and Attorney General.
I would deny the petition for writ of mandamus. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.