City attorney clarifies ‘g-file’ element of tentative police contract

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After several Austin City Council members raised questions about the tentative police agreement posted last week , Interim City Attorney Deborah Thomas responded in a memo sent to the mayor and council members Monday.

Those questions included — will both new and old “g-file” information be released and how will that information be made available to the public?

The “g-file” contains mostly unsubstantiated misconduct complaints against officers that did not result in discipline. In May 2023, voters passed the Austin Police Oversight Act (APOA), which called for those records to be made public.

This issue made its way through the courts for months, until a judge issued a temporary injunction on Aug. 30 saying the city was unlawfully keeping the records confidential — something Thomas pointed to in her response to the council members.

Past and present “g-file” question

In the memo, Thomas walked through language in the tentative agreement saying: “Accordingly, all documentation related to police officer conduct–whether the conduct occurred before or after the effective date of the Agreement, is not confidential and is subject to release.”

“She says all records – past & present – are public under the contract and court rulings. I agree, but let’s ensure the Austin Police Association also agrees before we vote on the contract,” Vela posted on X . That’s also where you can find the full memo.

We reached out to the Austin Police Association president, who said the following:

“The language in the contract provides that there will be no ‘g file’ for alleged officer misconduct during the 5-year term of the Agreement. APA agrees that the first sentence of Article 16, Section 4 (a) means that for documents created outside the contract timeframe, we will rely on 143.089 and how court interprets 143.089 and Prop A. We may not always agree on the interpretation of a court ruling, but we are in agreement as to what the contract says.”

Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock

The memo also clarified that the information would be processed “like all other PIR requests and released to the requestor.”

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