HomeMy WebLinkAboutContract 50310 ?M 42
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RECE1VEpCPCITY SECRETARY
FEB 2 3 2018 o CONTRACT NO.
ClreOFFORT
Cm'SECRF"'R ti� Cause No. D-1-GN-16-001211
S. Ht 6TTY OF FORT WORTH, § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF
TEXAS, §
Plaintiff, §
V. § 98th JUDICIAL DISTRICT
KEN PAXTON, ATTORNEY §
GENERAL OF TEXAS, §
Defendant. § TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
This Settlement Agreement (Agreement) is made by and between Plaintiff
the City of Fort Worth, Texas (City) and Defendant Ken Paxton, Attorney General
of Texas (Attorney General).
I. BACKGROUND
This is a lawsuit under the Public Information Act (PIA), Texas Government
Code chapter 552, by which the City sought declaratory relief from an open records
ruling of the Attorney General. The ruling required the City to release information
it claimed was subject to the attorney-client privilege as the City did not comply
with procedural requirements of section 552.301. See Tex. Att'y Gen. OR2016-
05261; Tex. Gov't Code § 552.301. Consequently, the requested information was
presumed open to public disclosure unless a compelling reason exists to withhold
the information. See Tex. Gov't Code § 552.302. The ruling concluded the City failed
to demonstrate a compelling reason to withhold the privileged information from
disclosure and must release the information to the requestor.
During the pendency of the lawsuit, the Texas Supreme Court issued the
Settlement Agreement OFFICIAL RECORD
Cause No. D-1-GN-16-001211 Page 1 of 4
CITY SECRETARY
FT.WORTH,TX
decision, Paxton v. City of Dallas, which held "a `compelling reason' to withhold
confidential attorney-client communications exists and, absent waiver, rebuts the
presumption that the information protected by the privilege is `subject to required
public disclosure."' Paxton v. City of Dallas, 509 S.W.3d 247, 267-68 (Tex. 2017).
Consistent with the Paxton decision, the parties agree that portions of the requested
information are attorney-client privileged communications and may be withheld
from the requestor pursuant to Paxton v. City of Dallas and Texas Government
Code section 552.107.
Pursuant to section 552.325(c) of the Texas Government Code, the Attorney
General may enter into a settlement that allows all or part of the information at
issue in'this lawsuit to be withheld. The parties agree to the following terms.
II. TERMS
For good and sufficient consideration, the receipt of which is acknowledged,
the parties agree and stipulate that:
1. Pursuant to Texas Government Code section 552.107 and Paxton v.
City of Dallas, 509 S.W.3d 247 (Tex. 2017), the City must withhold the attorney-
client communications from the requestor in accordance with the markings on the
representative sample pages CFW-0001 through CFW-0048 and CFW-0050 through
CFW-0063, which were produced to the Attorney General under the March 1, 2017
Agreed Protective Order.
2. The Attorney General agrees to notify the requestor, as required by
Texas Government Code section 552.325(c), of the proposed settlement and of her
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Cause No. D-1-GN-16-001211 Page 2 of 4
right to intervene to contest the City's right to withhold the information. If the
requestor intervenes to contest the City's right to withhold the information at issue,
the terms of a final judgment entered in this lawsuit after a requestor intervenes
shall prevail over the terms of this Agreement.
3. The City and the Attorney General agree to the entry of an agreed
final judgment, the form of which has been approved by each party's attorney.
4. Each party to this Agreement will bear their own costs, including
attorney fees relating to this litigation.
5. The terms of this Agreement are contractual and not mere recitals, and
the agreements contained herein and the mutual consideration transferred is to
compromise disputed claims fully, and nothing in this Agreement shall be construed
as an admission of fault or liability, all fault and liability being expressly denied by
all parties to this Agreement.
6. The City warrants that its undersigned representative is duly
authorized to execute this Agreement on its behalf and that'its representative has
read this Agreement and fully understands it to be a compromise and settlement
and release of all claims that the City has against the Attorney General arising out
of the matters described in this Agreement.
7. The Attorney General warrants that his undersigned representative is
duly authorized to execute this Agreement on behalf of the Attorney General and
his representative has read this Agreement and fully understands it to be a
compromise and settlement and release of all claims that the Attorney General has
Settlement Agreement
Cause No. D-1-GN-16-001211 Page 3 of 4
against the City arising out of the matters described in this Agreement.
8. This Agreement shall become effective, and be deemed to have been
executed, on the date on which the last of the undersigned parties sign this
Agreement.
AGREED:
Date: Z l 4'1 6:" Date: Oz / 0 / 000
HARVEY L: YE, J ROSALIND 1, UNT
State Bar No. 0079 50 State Bar No. 24067108
Assistant City Attorney Assistant Attorney General
City of Fort Worth Administrative Law Division
Office of the City Attorney Office of the Attorney General of Texas
200 Texas Street P.O. Box 12548, Capitol Station
Fort Worth, Texas 76102 Austin, Texas 78711-2548
Telephone: (817) 392-7600 Telephone: (512) 475-4166
Facsimile: (817) 392-8359 Facsimile: (512) 457-4677
Harvey.Frye@fortworthtexas.gov Rosalind.Hunt@oag.texas.gov
ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT
CITY OF FORT WORTH ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AMMd by. � OF Fo��
Susan Alanis �, "O
Assistant City Manager r, ty 5
Settlement Agreement
Cause No. D-1-GN-16-001211 Page 4 of 4
OFFICIAL RECORD
CITY SECRETARY
,TX