Socorro police officer Sgt. Refugio Orta is already one of four Socorro city officials being investigated by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office for misuse of city money, but a separate case puts Orta in the center of another controversy.

KFOX14 News was given a Personnel Incident Report from Feb. 23, 2011, and it is a complaint stating that Orta was allegedly forcing officers to give out traffic tickets in order to generate money for the Socorro Police Department.

According to the Texas Transportation Code, law enforcement agencies cannot establish traffic offense quotas, and Orta told all officers that they "have to give traffic tickets in order to generate revenue for the Socorro Police Department and to pay their salaries."

There was an audio/video recording of Orta giving these commands, andthe report states, "A review of the recording shows that Sgt. Orta did make the above mentioned comments."

KFOX14 News requested information on this case and the recordings under the Freedom of Information Act.

The city of Socorro replied immediately saying it will not release information that is the subject of an ongoing police investigation.

Charles Daughtry, a founding member of the Texas Freedom of Information Foundation and Houston-based attorney, read the FOIA sent by KFOX14 News. He also read the response sent by David Garcia, a spokesperson for the city of El Paso. Daughtry said in order for Socorro to deny the request because of pending litigation, it needs to seek an opinion from the attorney general's office regarding the applicability of that exception rather than making that determination itself. It needs to request the opinion within 10 days of receiving the original request.

Daughtry also said, "It is clear that they (Socorro) cannot simply deny the information without timely requesting an attorney general's opinion."

After sharing Daughtry's response with Garcia, Garcia granted KFOX14 an on-camera interview.

"We knew that the case you asked about was over, and that's what confused us," Garcia said. "However, there is a civil case going along with it and we have to protect the citizens of Socorro, as well. Just go look and see; you can tell that the case is still before a court."

The report concluded with a recommendation from Orta's lieutenant to take away his sergeant status. However, Orta is still a sergeant in the Socorro Police Department.

If you have a story that you feel deserves media attention, contact Ric Dupont at ric.dupont@kfoxtv.com.