Hous. Cmty. Coll. v. Hall Law Grp., PLLC
| Decision Date | 10 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | NO. 01-20-00692-CV,NO. 01-20-00695-CV,NO. 01-20-00693-CV,NO. 01-20-00691-CV,NO. 01-20-00694-CV,NO. 01-20-00673-CV,NO. 01-20-00689-CV,NO. 01-20-00690-CV,01-20-00673-CV,01-20-00689-CV,01-20-00690-CV,01-20-00691-CV,01-20-00692-CV,01-20-00693-CV,01-20-00694-CV,01-20-00695-CV |
| Parties | HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Appellant v. THE HALL LAW GROUP, PLLC, DOLCEFINO CONSULTING, AND SCOTT LAHA, Appellees |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
On Appeal from the 334th District Court Harris County, Texas
Appellees, The Hall Law Group, PLLC ("Hall"), Dolcefino Consulting ("Dolcefino"), and Scott Laha submitted various requests to appellant, Houston Community College ("HCC"), for public information, pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act ("TPIA").1 Asserting that HCC refused to release the requested information, appellees sought writs of mandamus to compel HCC to comply with their requests.2 HCC filed a plea to the jurisdiction, arguing that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over appellees' claims because HCC is a governmental body and that appellees failed to establish a waiver of governmental immunity under the TPIA, i.e., that HCC had "refused" to act. The trial court found that HCC had failed to comply with the TPIA, including provisions governing the suspension of deadlines during an epidemic,3 and that such failure constituted a refusal to release public information under the TPIA. The trial court denied HCC's plea to the jurisdiction and granted mandamus relief, ordering that HCC provide all publicinformation responsive to appellees' TPIA requests. The trial court granted appellees' motions to sever their requests into separate writs.4
In its sole issue in this interlocutory appeal,5 HCC contends that the trial court erred in denying its plea to the jurisdiction.
We affirm.
In its plea to the jurisdiction, HCC stated that, on December 11, 2019, Hall served it with a request for public information under the TPIA, seeking seven categories of documents pertaining to HCC's Chief Human Resources Officer, Janet May ("May").6 On December 18, 2019, HCC acknowledged receipt of the request and sought clarification. On January 2, 2020, Hall responded with another TPIArequest, seeking seven new categories of documents.7 HCC requested clarification as to whether Hall's response constituted a new or modified request. On January 7, 2020, Hall responded to both requests by consolidating them into one request containing eleven items ("Request No. 1"). On January 17, 2020, HCC responded to Hall, stating that, after a diligent search, it did not have records responsive to six of the requested items and seeking clarification regarding the remaining five items. On February 4, 2020, HCC sent a request to the Office of the Attorney General ("OAG"), asking whether it was required to release information related to one of the five remaining items. On February 10, 2020, HCC released records to Hall related to two of the remaining items, and HCC notified Hall that it "did not have records responsive to the last two of its requested items" and considered the request closed.
On March 4, 2020, Dolcefino submitted a TPIA request to HCC ("Request No. 2"), seeking information concerning certain land sale contracts. Seven business days later, however, HCC closed its offices for its scheduled Spring Break—March 16, 2020 through March 20, 2020. Thereafter, beginning on March 20, 2020 and continuing thereafter, HCC "closed its offices indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic."
HCC asserted that, beginning in late March, "much of the country (indeed the world) largely stopped functioning due to COVID-19." And, "[a]mong the hundreds of state and local pronouncements issued throughout Texas in response to the pandemic, the [OAG] informed all governmental entities" that the computation of "business days" under the TPIA was affected as follows:
If a governmental body has closed its physical offices for purposes of a public health or epidemic response or if a governmental body is unable to access its records on a calendar day, then such day is not a business day, even if staff continues to work remotely or staff is present but involved directly in the public health or epidemic response.
Accordingly, on April 3, 2020, HCC notified Dolcefino of HCC's closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that it would "process open records requests . . . upon HCC's return to normal operations/business days, in accordance with the [TPIA] and the [OAG's] guidelines," as follows:
To protect the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff with regard to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), [HCC] facilities are closed beginning March 20, 2020 until further notice. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Texas Governor's recent disaster declaration, HCC is following the Texas Attorney General's guidelines regarding the [TPIA]. The Attorney General has clarified that if a governmental body has closed its physical offices for purposes of a public health or epidemic response or if a governmental body is unable to access its records on a calendar day, then such day is not a business day for purposes of the [TPIA], even if staff continues to work remotely or staff is present but involved directly in the public health or epidemic response. As such, HCC will process open records requests submitted during HCC's closure/period of altered operations and will continue to process pending requests such as yours upon HCC's return to normal operations/business days, in accordance with the [TPIA] and the Attorney General's guidelines.
On April 13, 2020, Hall submitted a TPIA request to HCC ("Request No. 3"), seeking seven categories of information, including emails and text messages involving May, documents authorizing her work on personnel matters at The Harris Center, and May's applications and resumes. On April 22, 2020, HCC again notified Hall of its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stated that the request would be processed "upon HCC's return to normal operations/business days, in accordance with the [TPIA] and the [OAG's] guidelines."
On May 18, 2020, Hall submitted a TPIA request to HCC ("Request No. 4"), seeking two categories of information. On May 19, 2020, HCC again notified Hall of its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stated that the request would be processed "upon HCC's return to normal operations/business days, in accordance with the [TPIA] and the [OAG's] guidelines."
On May 25, 2020, Hall filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus, asking the trial court to compel HCC to comply with the TPIA by producing all public information requested in each of Hall's requests, i.e., Request Nos. 1, 3, and 4.
On June 23, 2020, Laha submitted a TPIA request to HCC ("Request No. 5"), seeking information about certain contracts and settlements. Later that day, HCC notified Laha of its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stated that his request would be processed "upon HCC's return to normal operations/business days, in accordance with the [TPIA] and the [OAG's] guidelines."
On June 25, 2020, Dolcefino submitted a TPIA request to HCC ("Request No. 6"), seeking copies of certain settlement agreements and documents detailing certain expenditures. HCC asserts that, later the same day, it again notified Dolcefino of its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stated that it would process the request "upon HCC's return to normal operations/business days, in accordance with the [TPIA] and the [OAG's] guidelines."
On June 29, 2020, Dolcefino submitted a TPIA request to HCC ("Request No. 7"), seeking certain documents detailing the race and nationality of employees terminated from HCC since 2014. HCC again notified Dolcefino that it would process the request "upon HCC's return to normal operations/business days, in accordance with the [TPIA] and the [OAG's] guidelines."
On July 27, 2020, Dolcefino and Laha, alleging that HCC had refused to respond to their TPIA requests, intervened in Hall's suit for mandamus relief. They asked the trial court to compel HCC to provide the public information requested in Request Nos. 2, 5, 6, and 7. They also asked the trial court to sever their requests and enter separate writs.
On August 14, 2020, HCC filed its First Amended Plea to the Jurisdiction, seeking the dismissal of appellees' claims. HCC asserted that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over appellees' claims because HCC, as a governmental body, was immune from suit, and the TPIA provides only a limited waiver ofimmunity in cases in which a governmental body has "refused" to supply public information. HCC asserted that there was no evidence that it had "refused" to give appellees access to the requested public information.
HCC asserted that, with respect to Request No. 1, it had (1) conducted a good-faith search and notified Hall that it did not have any responsive information to several of its requests; (2) produced some responsive information; and (3) sought an OAG decision as to whether it was required to disclose certain information that it believed was protected by attorney-client privilege. HCC asserted that it received Request No. 2 on March 4, 2020 and began processing it. However, before it was complete, and before its deadline under the TPIA had expired, HCC closed its offices for Spring Break, which continued until March 20, 2020. On March 20, 2020, HCC closed its offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, as of the date of its amended plea on August 14, 2020, HCC had remained closed. HCC asserted that appellees sent Request Nos. 3 through 8 while HCC's offices were closed. Thus, pursuant to the OAG's guidelines, HCC was not incurring "business days" under the TPIA and "had no obligation under the law to respond." Rather, all statutory deadlines had indefinitely ceased.
Subsequently, on August 19, 2020, Hall submitted another TPIA request to HCC ("Request No. 8"), seeking copies of certain purchase orders and...
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