Houston Chronicle Pub. Co. v. Mattox, C-7911

• Decision Date: 22 March 1989
• Docket Number: No. C-7911,C-7911
• Citation: 767 S.W.2d 695
• Parties: 53 Ed. Law Rep. 312 The HOUSTON CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Relator, v. The Honorable Jim MATTOX, Attorney General of the State of Texas, Respondent.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

Page 695

767 S.W.2d 695

53 Ed. Law Rep. 312

The HOUSTON CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Relator, v. The Honorable Jim MATTOX, Attorney General of the State of Texas, Respondent.

No. C-7911.

Supreme Court of Texas.

March 22, 1989.

William W. Ogden, Liddell, Sapp, Zivley, Hill & Laboon, Houston, for relator.

Kelly Frels & Arturo G. Michel, Bracewell & Patterson, David M. Feldman & Darah S. Headley, Vinson & Elkins, Houston, David R. Richards, Richards, Wiseman & Durst, Lonnie Hollingsworth, Austin, Richard D. Strahan & George M. Kirk, Strahan & Kirk, Houston, Priscilla L.

Champion & Jennifer S. Riggs, Office of Atty. Gen., Austin, for respondent

OPINION

RAY, Justice.

The issue in this original mandamus proceeding is whether the Attorney General of Texas can enter into, and a district judge can render, an agreed order that prohibits the Attorney General from issuing a decision under the Open Records Act. Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6252-17a (Vernon Supp.1989). Because we hold that the Attorney General and the district judge's actions violate the constitutional prohibition against suspending laws, we conditionally grant the writ of mandamus against the Attorney General.

The relator, Houston Chronicle Publishing Company, has invoked the original jurisdiction of this court to issue a writ of mandamus against the Attorney General. Tex. Const. art. V, § 3; Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 22.002 (Vernon 1988). The controversy arises from the Chronicle's August 1988 requests that the Houston Independent School District (HISD) disclose the college transcripts of district administrators who allegedly obtained advanced degrees from nonaccredited schools. These requests were based on previous determinations which held that the college transcripts of public school teachers and administrators are public information under the Act. Klein Indep. School Dist. v. Mattox, 830 F.2d 576 (5th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 1008, 108 S.Ct. 1473, 99 L.Ed.2d 702 (1988); Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-467 (1987); Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-284 (1981). The HISD refused the Chronicle's request for access to the transcripts and requested an open records decision from the Attorney General. The Chronicle filed an application for writ of mandamus in the 113th district court of Harris County, claiming that it was entitled to seek immediate enforcement of the Open Records Act because the Attorney General had already ruled that such transcripts are public information.

The Chronicle's mandamus action against the HISD was consolidated over the Chronicle's objections with a class action pending in the 152d district court of Harris County, the Honorable Jack O'Neill presiding. This case, Chapman v. Mattox, involves a challenge by professional school employees in the Klein Independent School District to the Attorney General's interpretation of the Open Records Act, which requires the disclosure of the employee's college transcripts. The Chapman plaintiffs contend that disclosure of the transcripts would deprive them of their right to privacy under the Texas Constitution. See Texas State Employees Union v. Texas Dep't of Mental Health & Mental Retardation, 746 S.W.2d 203 (Tex.1987). Upon consolidation, the parties in the Chronicle's mandamus action became subject to all prior orders in the Chapman case, including an August 15, 1988, agreed order between the Attorney General and the Chapman plaintiffs, which abated the action until completion of the regular session of the 71st Texas Legislature. This order prohibits the Attorney General from rendering any decisions that would require the disclosure of a professional school employee's college transcript. Because of the agreed order in Chapman, the Attorney General refused to render an open records decision for the HISD.

Judge O'Neill heard the Chronicle's application for writ of mandamus against the HISD in the procedural context of consolidation with the Chapman case. The judge denied the application for writ of mandamus because he ruled that the Chronicle lacked standing under the Open Records Act since there had been no decision by the Attorney General that the transcripts were public records. See Act § 8 (person requesting public information may seek a writ of mandamus if the governmental body refuses to request an attorney general's decision or refuses to supply information the Attorney General has determined to be a public record). The Chronicle, thus, is precluded from obtaining the information it seeks because of an agreed order to which it is not a party.

The Chronicle has asked this court to issue a writ of mandamus to compel the Attorney General to comply with his mandatory duty under the Open Records...