AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Attorney General's Office walked back its original ruling made in September that would have allowed the release of personnel information on officers as part of an Austin voter-approved oversight measure.
The ruling was made at a request for a specific case, after City of Austin leaders raised concerns during a meeting that month. The release would fall under the Austin Police Oversight Act, Proposition A, passed in May.
Austin Councilmember Mackenzie Kelly (District 6) wrote a letter to the Attorney General's Office, asking it to reconsider the ruling as it related to "publicly disclosed information related to APD'S personnel G-file."
The G-file means a fire department or a police department can maintain a personnel file on a police officer or firefighter employed by the department.
The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) also got involved, stating that the release of the information would violate state law.
"The City of Austin is covered by Chapter 143 of the local government code, and this ruling was based upon false information provided to them by the City of Austin," CLEAT Director of Public Affairs Jennifer Szimanski said. "A personnel file of a police officer is very sensitive. It's something that can be used against them in a way that is completely inappropriate and unfounded, just like the allegation itself and should remain confidential."
A spokesperson for the City of Austin stated their case on the matter on Wednesday with the following statement:
"The city has maintained G-file material on police officers since the public voted for the police officers to be covered by civil service (Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code.) The City’s initial letter to the AG did not indicate otherwise; it pointed out that Prop A had passed, and it differs from state law."
The reversal of the ruling and the ruling in general has left the City scrambling to figure out how to legally implement Prop A, complying with the will of the voters who overwhelmingly voted for the oversight measure.
Equity Action, who backed the proposition, released a statement on the ruling on Wednesday.
"This ruling simply reveals that the city continues to violate the Austin Police Oversight Act," Chris Harris said in the statement. "The key here is that this is the city's decision and the city has decided to violate the law."
Josh Blank, the University of Texas research director for the Texas Politics Project, said he isn't entirely sure if that portion of Prop A goes against state law.
"Obviously, the attorney general hasn't been clear on it. He has an entire office full of lawyers, and he's issued two conflicting opinions or issued one opinion and has since rescinded it. So it's obviously not something that's clear," Blank said, adding, "I think there's a certain amount of politics going on here that makes it difficult to really suss out how honest the positions are of everybody involved here, whether at the state level or at the city level."
Advocates for Prop A also threw in their frustration over the back-and-forth the measure has been facing, but said they have hope it will eventually come to fruition.
"You have a a voting population that comes out and votes overwhelmingly for Prop A, and then it just seems like the City and now the State is working so hard to, you know, make sure it doesn't happen," said Chas Moore, co-executive director of the Austin Justice Coalition.