By John Engel
KXAN
Originally published July 13, 2020
Travis County will ask the Attorney General’s office whether it can withhold communication about a police transparency bill that the county registered in opposition to in 2019.
In response to a KXAN public information request regarding county communication about House Bill 147, which aimed to close the so-called dead suspect loophole, a county attorney said he will request guidance from the Attorney General as to whether the information has to be released under public records law.
The loophole is an exemption in Texas public records law that allows law enforcement agencies to withhold information when a suspect died in police custody. It was the subject of a KXAN investigative series in 2019.