State wins 1st known Public Information Act conviction

AUSTIN — A former school superintendent in Llano has become the first known person convicted of violating the Texas Public Information Act.

On Aug. 28 a Blanco County jury found Llano school district superintendent Jack Patton guilty of the misdemeanor. He was fined $1,000 and received a six-month probated jail sentence. The trial was moved from Llano to Blanco County on change of venue.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced that the criminal conviction is believed to be the first-known conviction of a public official for violating the state’s Public Information Act.

“I want all government officials to take note of how this case ended,” Abbott said.

A three-month investigation revealed that the superintendent refused to disclose public information on district funding to the Llano Buzz, a free newspaper owned by American Consolidated Media, and a county commissioner.

A grand jury in February returned a two-count indictment against Patton alleging that he intentionally withheld public information. In April a grand jury also handed down two indictments on tampering with a governmental record and six charges of abuse of official capacity.

“Certainly (Patton) has been held accountable for what he didn’t provide, but more importantly it will send a message to others in public positions that those laws are real and have bite to them,” Buzz publisher Eric Bishop told the San Antonio Express-News.

The newspaper last fall asked for receipts documenting school credit card purchases.

While the request was not met, some of the receipts later surfaced in other requests made by individuals.

The newspaper later reported that $17,000 had been charged in 22 months to the district card, mainly for hotels and restaurants around the state.

The newspaper filed a complaint with the district attorney’s office. The DA turned it over to the attorney general’s office.

Patton’s trial lasted four days and jurors deliberated approximately five hours. Assistant attorney general Angela Goodwin prosecuted the case.

In a Sept. 13 speech at the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas’ annual conference in Austin, Abbott pledged more enforcement of the state’s open records laws. He said he will allocate new litigating capabilities and enable the open records division to “aggressively” work with prosecutors around the state to ensure more prosecution for non-compliance.

Abbott’s Open Records Division issued 9,300 open records rulings in fiscal year 2003 up from 7,171 in fiscal 2002 and 5,464 in fiscal 2001. The rulings are issued in response to governments’ requests on whether to disclose certain information requested by the public.