By Marshall Reid
Denton Record-Chronicle
Originally published July 14, 2019
Disclosure of certain law enforcement records rests in the hands of Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In an attempt to learn more about a June 29 officer-involved shooting, the Denton Record-Chronicle filed a request for information under the Texas Public Information Act on July 2. The newspaper requested body camera video, the offense report, 911 call audio, dash camera video, audio of calls for service and more.
On July 11, the paper received notice from a paralegal working on behalf of the sheriff’s office that the request had been appealed to the attorney general, who has roughly eight weeks to make a decision.
“When police end up in a confrontation that results in a citizen’s death, that is certainly of very high legitimate interest to the public,” said Jim Hemphill, an attorney with the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.