League City mayor pledges report on why city is blocking the release of police reports of response to council member’s house • City attorney confirms embattled council member reached out to her about the release of police report League City Mayor Nick Long on Tuesday (1/28/2025) pledged that the city would soon release a report of the steps and procedures used to block the release of even the most basic information of a pair of police calls to Council Member Justin Hicks. Long promised the report would be released “within the coming days” and made available to the council, media, and the public. What form the report would come in hasn’t been determined in some part because the city attorney claims the mayor’s announcement was a surprise. Long refuted that claim and said he informed the city staff of his intention before the meeting. Long’s announcement came at the end of Tuesday’s council meeting that Hicks chose to skip. Hicks did attend a council workshop meeting before the regular council meeting. The council member, who had missed two consecutive council sessions, risked losing his seat if he missed a third meeting per the city charter. Hicks spent much of the meeting, however, in a back office area out of public view. Hicks and the city attorney’s office are under intense public pressure after an i45NOW report revealed that Hicks sought to block the release of police reports about police calls to his house on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5. Two of the handful of people who addressed the council called for the release of records and for Hicks to resign. Before the city attempted to block the release of the police reports, the League City Police Department’s public information officer confirmed that the department was called to the Hicks’ household on two occasions. The first call was about a domestic disturbance call. Officers who responded to that call didn’t make an arrest but asked for an ambulance to stage nearby. Police protocol has officers who ask paramedics on the scene to have the ambulance stage nearby, generally because they need to confirm the scene is safe for medical staff to approach. The second call was on January 5 so that officers would be on site as Hicks retrieved personal items from the house. While domestic disputes are common, the involvement of officers is often only because someone felt the situation was such that police presence was warranted. It’s unconfirmed if a member of Hicks family, a neighbor or someone else aware of the argument called police. Hicks, in his only comments on the situation, said the police were called after a “petty argument,” and he confirmed he contacted the city attorney to ask for the records be withheld. Hicks did not return phone calls or texts Tuesday or Wednesday (1/29/2025). The city attorney is blocking the release of reports that contain only the basic information about the police calls. While City Attorney Michele Villareal reaffirmed a city-issued statement that said the decision to seek an attorney general’s opinion and thus block a timely release of the requested information was made “independently” and without direction from a member of the city council, she acknowledged that Hicks called her, and asked for the records to be withheld. She confirmed twice she never initiated contact with Hicks saying, “That would have been inappropriate.” Still, Villareal also acknowledged that after Hicks call she had to balance the request for public disclosure and the public’s right to know with the request that Hicks made. Her concern is that to ignore Hicks claims of privacy invasion and the release of information could expose the city legally should the AG determine items not be made public. Still, the bulk of what i45NOW requested was not detailed information that would identify minors, protected health information, or the victim of domestic/sexual assault. In the specific request, i45NOW asked for the basic or “top sheet” information that would include only the following: the date and time of the call for service, the identity of responding officers, the location of the call for service, an indication of any arrest made, and the end time for the call for service. The full report was never requested. That, Villareal, is where a problem arises. She claimed no top sheet or basic cover sheet for the report exists. She confirmed that the only records are the full reports. When asked about the request for dispatch call logs, which are also just basic information and do not reveal any private information, Villareal admitted she lumped all of the records requests into one submission to the AG. i45NOW submitted three requests to avoid holding up the release of indisputable public information as a decision was sought on what could be withheld.

Posted by i45NOW at 2025-01-29 19:14:38 UTC