AUSTIN (KXAN) — Mayor Kirk Watson called a special meeting Thursday to discuss a police oversight matter with council members and the City’s legal team in executive session.
The discussion pertains to the Austin Police Department (APD) “g-file,” which is an internal personnel file that contains unsubstantiated complaints against officers that did not result in any discipline.
The confidentiality of those files is currently in flux. In May 2023, Austinites voted to pass the Austin Police Oversight Act, referred to in city discussions as “Prop A.”
The ordinance moved to implement additional police oversight measures, including releasing contents of the g-file to members of the public who request the documents through an open records request under the Texas Public Information Act.
The Austin Police Association (APA) said releasing these documents violates state law, and upon the ordinance’s implementation, many city discussions and court proceedings occurred to establish whether these unsubstantiated complaints could be unsealed.
City staff previously decided to leave that choice up to the courts and proceed from there. So far, the records have remained private.
Most recently, a judge decided the City acted “unlawfully” in keeping these files. City legal staff said during police contract negotiations this month that the City was “moving toward compliance” with that court decision, but it’s still unclear what that entails. This court ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed against the City by Equity Action, the advocacy group that wrote Prop A.
KXAN will attempt to speak with city leaders following the executive session, which is held privately, to see if any participants can shed further light on the discussion. During police contract negotiations earlier this week, city legal staff mentioned active requests from the public for g-files would be discussed, at least in part.
Ron DeLord, the attorney for the Austin Police Association, asked several times during Tuesday’s negotiations if the City planned to release g-file contents to members of the public who request said documents. The City’s team answered that the decision was still in flux.
Other aspects of this remain in flux, according to conversations taken place during negotiations, like whether the public can retroactively access g-files or if the court ruling only pertains to complaints filed after Prop A went into effect.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.