Must Texas police give caregiver child abuse reports to the Department of Family and Protective Services?

Plain-English summary

Anne Heiligenstein, the Commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, asked the Attorney General whether a law enforcement agency must hand over information about alleged child abuse or neglect by a caregiver when the Department requests it. The question grew out of a concrete dispute: in January 2011, a Department special investigator asked a municipal police department for information, and the city instead sought an open-records ruling, arguing the information was confidential under Government Code section 552.101 (incorporating Family Code section 261.201 and common-law privacy). The Commissioner argued the agency was statutorily required to turn the information over.

The opinion sided with the Department. It read two Family Code provisions together. Section 261.105(a) says all reports a local or state law enforcement agency receives that allege abuse or neglect by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare "shall be referred immediately" to the Department or a designated agency. Section 261.301(a) directs the Department, with assistance from the appropriate law enforcement agency, to make a prompt and thorough investigation of such a report. Taken together, the opinion concluded, these statutes contemplate a complete sharing of information between the Department and a law enforcement agency when the alleged abuse or neglect is by a person responsible for the child's care, custody, or welfare. The opinion stressed that this cooperation requirement operates independently of the Public Information Act, so the duty to furnish the information does not depend on the open-records analysis the city had raised. The opinion concluded that a law enforcement agency is required to furnish the requested information to the Department.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2011. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later Attorney General opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

The Department of Family and Protective Services (as the opinion held for it): The opinion told the Department that it was entitled to the information. It read sections 261.105 and 261.301 to require law enforcement to furnish information about alleged caregiver abuse or neglect so the Department could investigate.

Law enforcement agencies (as the opinion described it): Under the opinion, a local or state law enforcement agency that receives a report of caregiver abuse or neglect must refer it immediately to the Department and assist in the investigation, sharing the information rather than withholding it.

On the open-records argument (where the opinion landed): The opinion treated the Family Code cooperation requirement as independent of the Public Information Act. Because the duty to furnish the information came from sections 261.105 and 261.301, the opinion did not resolve the case on the section 552.101 confidentiality or common-law privacy exceptions the city had asserted.

Common questions

Do Texas police have to share child abuse reports with CPS?
Yes. The opinion concluded that under Family Code sections 261.105 and 261.301, a law enforcement agency must furnish information about alleged abuse or neglect by a caregiver to the Department of Family and Protective Services.

Does the abuse have to be by a caregiver for this duty to apply?
The opinion framed the duty around abuse or neglect "by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare," which is the language of the statutes it relied on.

Can a police department refuse based on confidentiality or privacy?
The opinion concluded the Family Code's cooperation requirement works independently of the Public Information Act, so the duty to furnish the information did not turn on the open-records confidentiality and privacy exceptions the city had raised.

What are agencies supposed to do with these reports?
Under the statutes the opinion cited, a law enforcement agency must refer such reports to the Department immediately, and the Department, with the agency's assistance, must promptly and thoroughly investigate.

Background and statutory framework

Section 261.105(a) of the Family Code requires that all reports received by a local or state law enforcement agency alleging abuse or neglect by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare be referred immediately to the Department or the designated agency, and section 261.105(b) requires the Department to notify law enforcement of reports it receives. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 261.105 (West Supp. 2010); id. § 261.105(a). In chapter 261, "Department" means the Department of Family and Protective Services. Id. § 261.001(2) (West 2008). Section 261.301(a) directs the Department, with assistance from the appropriate law enforcement agency, to make a prompt and thorough investigation of a report of abuse or neglect by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare. Id. § 261.301(a) (West 2008).

The city had argued the information was excepted from disclosure under Government Code section 552.101 as confidential under Family Code section 261.201 and as implicating common-law privacy. Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.101; Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 261.201. The opinion concluded the Family Code's cooperation requirement operates independently of the Public Information Act.

Citations

Statutes:

• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.101
• Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 261.201
• Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 261.105 (West Supp. 2010)
• Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 261.001(2) (West 2008)
• Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 261.105(a) (West Supp. 2010)
• Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 261.301(a) (West 2008)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/greg-abbott/ga-0879
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2011/ga0879.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official PDF. Minor extraction artifacts were corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT

August 12, 2011

Ms. Anne Heiligenstein, Commissioner Opinion No. GA-0879
Texas Department of Family and
Protective Services Re: Whether a law enforcement agency is required
701 West 51st Street to furnish information about alleged child abuse or
Austin, Texas 78751 neglect by a person responsible for the child's care,
custody, or welfare to the Department of Family
and Protective Services (RQ-0957-GA)

Dear Commissioner Heiligenstein:

You ask whether a law enforcement agency is required to furnish information about alleged child abuse or neglect by a person responsible for the child's care, custody, or welfare to the Department of Family and Protective Services (the "Department").[1]

You indicate that in January 2011 a special investigator of the Department requested information from a municipal police department (the "City"). Request Letter at 1. Subsequently, the City referred the request to its open records division, which sought an open records letter ruling from the Office of Attorney General, contending that the requested information was excepted from disclosure under section 552.101, Government Code, as (1) information deemed confidential by section 261.201 of the Family Code; and (2) information implicating common-law privacy.[2] You argue that a law enforcement agency is statutorily required to furnish the information to the Department. Request Letter at 1.

Section 261.105 of the Family Code provides, in relevant part:

(a) All reports received by a local or state law enforcement agency that allege abuse or neglect by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare shall be referred immediately to the department or the designated agency.

(b) The department or designated agency shall immediately notify the appropriate state or local law enforcement agency of any report it receives, other than a report from a law enforcement agency, that concerns the suspected abuse or neglect of a child or death of a child from abuse or neglect.

TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 261.105 (West Supp. 2010). In chapter 261, the word "Department" means "the Department of Family and Protective Services." Id. § 261.001(2) (West 2008). Independently of the requirements of the Public Information Act, section 261.105 mandates cooperation between the Department and a local law enforcement agency by specifically requiring that a report alleging abuse or neglect by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare must be referred immediately to the Department or a designated agency after it is received by a local law enforcement agency. Id. § 261.105(a) (West Supp. 2010).

Moreover, another statute complements the policy established under section 261.105. Section 261.301(a) provides:

(a) With assistance from the appropriate state or local law enforcement agency as provided by this section, the department or designated agency shall make a prompt and thorough investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect allegedly committed by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare.

Id. § 261.301(a) (West 2008). These two statutes, taken together, contemplate a complete and total sharing of information between the Department and a local law enforcement agency so long as the alleged child abuse or neglect is "committed by a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare." Id. We conclude that a law enforcement agency is therefore required to furnish information about alleged child abuse or neglect by a person responsible for the child's care, custody, or welfare to the Department of Family and Protective Services.

SUMMARY

Pursuant to sections 261.105 and 261.301 of the Family Code, a law enforcement agency is required to furnish information about alleged child abuse or neglect by a person responsible for the child's care, custody, or welfare to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Very truly yours,

GREG ABBOTT
Attorney General of Texas

DANIEL T. HODGE
First Assistant Attorney General

DAVID J. SCHENCK
Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel

JASON BOATRIGHT
Chair, Opinion Committee

Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee

[1] Letter from Anne Heiligenstein, Commissioner, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas at 1 (Mar. 15, 2011), https://www.oag.state.tx.us/opin/index_rq.shtml ("Request Letter").

[2] See Letter from B. Chase Griffith, Brown & Hofmeister, L.L.P., to Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas (Jan. 24, 2011) (attached to Request Letter as Exhibit B). This office responded to the City with an Open Records Letter Ruling. See Tex. Att'y Gen. OR2011-04507, https://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php.