AUSTIN (KXAN) — Once-confidential police records have been publicly accessible via an official public information request for about two months now.
These files are formerly known as “g-files,” and contain primarily unsubstantiated complaints against police officers that don’t result in discipline. They were unsealed after the the topic made its way through a city ballot and multiple court settings.
KXAN requested these files for every current police officer. After a weeks-long back-and-forth with the city’s records staff, we got an invoice estimating the total cost to procure these records to be $27,180.
Police officers don’t have a file labeled “g” where all of this information lives. The name comes from a subsection “g” as part of state law that kept the records confidential. So, compiling the file was a novel expedition in the records world, and staff had to pull the complaints from various departments.
Below is a breakdown of the math as explained by records staff.
KXAN has decided not to move forward with this records request and will reevaluate smaller scale requests for such records as we see fit.