Missouri City sues state to withhold photos from 13 Investigates

MISSOURI CITY, Texas (KTRK) — Outside a post office in Missouri City, most people know about the police department’s 2024 evidence room leak, but they didn’t hear about it from the city.

“I found out through the news media that there was a leak and the police department covered up for so long that it got out,” Missouri City resident James Foster told 13 Investigates.

Now, the City is going to court to keep photos from the evidence room leak private.

After 13 Investigates first reported about a water leak in the department’s evidence room that destroyed case evidence, we filed multiple public information requests to get the truth about what happened.

The City fought almost all of our requests with the Texas Attorney General’s Office to withhold the information, and the most recent request for photos was no different.

The AG eventually ordered them to release the photos to 13 Investigates, but the City is doubling down and suing the state to keep them secret.

Residents only found out about the leak three months after it happened, because that’s when the news learned about it and reported it.

We’ve since learned that a leaking dehumidifier soaked criminal evidence, which was then tossed out without following protocol, according to records from the city.

The Fort Bend District Attorney’s Office tells us they were left in the dark, too.

Our investigation revealed that 90 cases in various stages of the legal process were affected.

One employee involved was fired, one was suspended, and another retired, according to records we obtained from Missouri City.

SEE ALSO: Documents uncover fallout from Missouri City PD evidence room leak one year later

Through our investigation, 13 Investigates learned there were video and photos of the leak, so we requested them.

“Well, was it, you know, horrific or was it just a small leak?” Missouri City resident Bonnie Kemp said.

The City claims releasing photos would harm active cases, give license plate information, information on juveniles, show cases that didn’t turn into charges or expose security secrets.

SEE ALSO: Missouri City PD tossed evidence, then fought to hide details

They even claimed the photos were part of a criminal probe into staff related to the leak – an investigation that didn’t result in charges.

The AG’s Office said it was not convinced, ordering the city to release the photos, but said they could withhold the video, and that’s when Missouri City filed a lawsuit against the state challenging its ruling.

“That doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, pictures are pictures. Let people know what’s going on,” Kemp said.

The city wouldn’t show us their photos, but a source showed us their images of the evidence room.

One photo shows a dehumidifier sitting on a shelf over evidence, with a hose duct-taped to cabinets in another room leading to a sink.

The photos show the actual damage, including water on the floor and two of the wet bags of evidence.

Before airing the photos, 13 Investigates blurred the labels to protect the sensitive information for the cases, which is something the city could have done.

“Who’s going in there with a magnifying glass to see what the cases are? I’m serious,” Kemp said.

13 Investigates asked Missouri City if they are asserting in their lawsuit that none of the photos can be released and if they think it is a responsible use of taxpayer money and city employee time to fight it.

13 Investigates also sent them copies of the photos we received. They told us they can’t comment because of the pending lawsuit. A lawsuit like this one could take years to resolve, so it’s not likely we will be seeing the City’s photos any time soon.

Contact 13 Investigates

Have a tip? A problem to solve? Send a tip below. If you don’t have a photo or document to include, just hit ‘skip upload’ and send the details. (On mobile? You can open our form by tapping here.)