Kallinen v. City of Houston (Per Curiam)
Annotate this CaseInvoking the Texas Public Information Act (PIA), Randall Kallinen requested information from the City of Houston regarding a study of traffic light cameras the City had commissioned. The City withheld some documents and asked the Attorney General for an opinion as to whether the PIA excepted the withheld information from disclosure. Before the Attorney General ruled, Kallinen sued for a writ of mandamus to compel the City to disclose the withheld information. The City filed a plea to the jurisdiction, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction over the suit until the Attorney General ruled. The district court overruled the plea, ordered disclosure of the withheld documents, and awarded Kallinen attorney fees. The court of appeals reversed, holding that a trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over this suit until the Attorney General ruled. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the court of appeals erred in dismissing Kallinen’s suit for want of jurisdiction, as a requestor of information is not required to defer a suit for mandamus while awaiting the Attorney General’s decision.
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