Pct 4 Commissioner, Ed Rinehart

On September 28, 2009, Montgomery County resident, Jim Doyle, requested land-line and cell phone bills for 2008 and portions of 2009 from Montgomery County Precinct 4 Commissioner, Ed Rinehart.

In response to the request, Montgomery County Attorney, David Walker, asked for a ruling from the Texas Office of the Attorney General (AG).  Walker sought to withhold the account numbers as well as the actual cell phone numbers from the individual cell phones assigned to persons in the Precinct 4 office.

Walker’s argument for withholding the cell phone numbers relied heavily on a 2003 AG ruling for a nearly identical request.  The 2003 ruling concluded the cell phone numbers assigned to Precinct 4 Commissioner, Ed Rinehart, the Sheriff and the District Attorney could be excepted from disclosure.  In general the 2003 ruling claimed the cell phone numbers of individuals with law enforcement responsibilities could be excepted from disclosure.  This ruling apparently included a county commissioner in the category of individuals with law enforcement responsibilities.

County Attorney, David Walker

However, in the December 2009 AG ruling concerning Doyle’s request for phone bills, the 2003 ruling was partially reversed.  In this ruling the AG determined a county commissioner does not fit in the category of individuals with law enforcement responsibilities and ordered the release of the material with the cell phone numbers intact.

Walker refused to release the information per the AG’s instructions and according to a February 2010 letter signed by Assistant County Attorney, Sara Forlano, instead contacted the AG’s Office by phone and arranged to send a second brief essentially appealing to the AG to reconsider its decision. 

In this appeal to the original ruling, Forlano claims,

“[Releasing the Commissioner's cell phone numbers] puts the County and, in fact, ALL Texas counties at a great disadvantage during a natural disaster as it will make it impossible for government officials to try to tend to the needs of their[s] County and restore order.”

In response to this request for an appeal, the AG’s Office replied with the following:

“Section 552.301 of the Public Information Act provides that a governmental body is prohibited from asking for a reconsideration of the attorney general’s decision.  Gov’t Code 552.301(f).  Therefore, unless you file a timely challenge in district court, you must comply with Open Records Letter No. 2009-17908.”

On March 9, 2010, approximately six months after the initial request, the information was released and can be viewed below.

cell_jan_jun_08.pdf (Approx 30 MB)
cell_jul_dec_08.pdf (Approx 30 MB)
cell_jan_jun_09.pdf (Approx 30 MB)
landline_08_09_pct_4.pdf (Approx 3 MB)