Q: Exactly what information contained in an arrest report is public information? Where can I find a list of those things?

A: Let’s look at three places where you can find what you’re looking for. Here’s the first one. It takes three steps to get there. Open the TPA website, www.texaspress.com, and select LAW & MEDIA under the PUBLICATIONS tab. Next, click the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION link. And finally, click the PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT link.

Once you’re there, read down and find the following list:

- Name, age, address, race, sex, occupation, alias and physical condition of an arrested person;
- Date and time of the arrest;
- Offense charged and the court in which it is filed;
- Details of an arrest;
- Booking information;
- Notation of any release or transfer;
- Bonding information;
- Location of the crime;
- Identification and description of the complainant;
- Premises involved;
- Time of the occurrence of the crime;
- Property involved;
- Vehicles involved, if any;
- Description of the weather;
- Detailed description of the offense; and
- Names of the arresting and investigating officers.

Second, for the sake of redundancy (desirable in the fact-checking world) check the website of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (www.rcfp.org) for comparable data. Under the Reading Room tab, find OPEN GOVERNMENT GUIDE and click the TEXAS link. An outline will pop up. Scroll down to paragraph K, Police Records. Then find no. 5, Arrest Records, and click.

Third, go to the website of Texas’ chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Greg Abbott, www.oag.state.tx.us. Select the OPEN GOVERNMENT tab and click PUBLICATIONS. Click 2010 PUBLIC INFORMATION HANDBOOK PDF. Using the page scroller, go to pages 112 and 113. There you will find the list of public information that “ordinarily appears on the first page of an offense report.” This also is exactly what you were looking for.

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