Acting on a tip, Texas Watchdog sent a public records request to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, asking for records pertaining to former UTMB Police Chief Charles Brown, who was fired in February, according to reports.

The tip was that Brown has continued to receive his pay even in the wake of his departure. Our request sought information regarding this continuance of pay, including any recorded parachute package that would allow such payments.

We received a response from Nathan Andersen, who has been interim public information officer since July. The bill for the records was $50.10, for 276 pages and some labor. We opted to inspect the documents first, which the letter noted would cost $8.90, the cost to copy pages that had to be redacted.

The $50.10 seemed to suggest a lot of documents for a simple request. It was either a gold mine or something much much less. And trying to find a Charles Brown in Texas is a difficult task at best, given how many people in the world are named Charles Brown. We ran a few traps with no success. So the records might help.

On arrival at UTMB, we were escorted to a conference room, which appeared to be a law library, and asked for the $8.90. We handed a $20 spot to the assistant who was escorting us, and he advised that they did not make change. We walked across the street to a hospital cafeteria and got the change.

A letter accompanied the stack of docs sitting on a table, explaining some key details about Charles Brown's employment. We might have gotten this a little earlier, but it was fine.

We were disappointed that the batch of documents amounted to three pages of what we sought: A job offer letter to Brown dated Dec. 13, 1991, and five lines on a piece of paper noting that Brown was indeed, being paid even as he was no longer with the department.

In fact, each month since his departure, he was cut a check for $7,417.49. There was no included parachute clause or contract, according to the UTMB response to the request, causing us to wonder, do they just cut him checks because he's a good guy?

Andersen, in his letter dated the same day we visited, simply said there had been no final settlement. Then why the continued payments?

The rest of the material, 273 pages worth, was filler. It included the UT Select Health Benefits outline (60+ pages), Volunteer Group Long Term Disability (30+ pages), the UT Systems Benefits Package (44 pages) and the dental plan (17 pages). This was provided responsive to our request for "a notation or list of all benefits provided to Brown since his departure."

The standard benefits language did not specifically address what we had asked for, that is, Brown’s continued benefits in the wake of his leaving.

We asked to speak to Becky Wilson, the public affairs coordinator who had facilitated the inspection. While we waited, we perused the stacks of fine law books, always a good way to pass time.

Wilson appeared with Andersen. The assistant who had initially helped also hung around. We wanted to determine why there was no specific information regarding Brown. Andersen said he was fulfilling the request, and that this - these generic benefit forms that they wanted to charge us for - was the extent of what was provided to Brown as an employee.

There was no note or anything regarding the status of Brown, nothing addressing the conditions under which Brown was being paid. We suggested that perhaps some further communication from their end would have been warranted in order to avoid wasting everyone’s valuable time.

We added that it was hardly fair to copy the UT benefits plans and try to have us pay for them under the public’s right to know. Most of what had been copied and offered to sale to us – and you, the public -- appears to be available right here. 

If we had known that, we would have opted for online access to the standard benefits information. Unfortunately, we didn't know, and the law says agencies may not have fulfilled their role in providing public information by simply pointing to a website.

From the Texas attorney general's Public Information 2010 Handbook:

The attorney general has determined that a public information officer does not fulfill his or her duty under (the law) by simply referring a requestor to a governmental body's Web site for requested public information. A requestor may, however, agree to accept information on a governmental body's Web site in fulfillment of the request and, in that situation, the governmental body must inform the requestor of the Internet address of the requested information.

Andersen appeared agitated and noted that the meeting we were having at that very moment was costing the hospital system $500. This came somewhat out of the blue. Did he feel we – the public – were wasting his time?

He then said that we were out of line for reading books that were on the shelf of the law library as we were waiting for the assistant to summon Wilson and himself.

Somewhat stunned by this, we advised that these books, as much of the public building we were in, was at least in part paid for by the public. He disagreed.

Is this what the UTMB thinks of its public and its right to know?

There appears to be plenty of disarray among the police element in the UT system, and given the resistance we got in this episode, it warrants a much deeper look than we had initially thought.

It seems the Galveston location is lucky to be around, after Hurricane Ike prompted a study that determined the place wasn't even viable to rebuild.

Mostly public money came to the rescue -- your tax money.

But don't think for even a second you can check out the law books in its library.

CORRECTION: This story was updated at 2:48 p.m. June 8 to reflect the correct named hurricane that damaged UTMB in Galveston.

Contact Steve Miller at 832-303-9420 or stevemiller@texaswatchdog.org.

Photo of Law Books on a Shelf by flickr user umjanedoan, used via a Creative Commons license.