A federal judge ruled that NCAA recruiting-infraction...

A federal judge ruled that NCAA recruiting-infraction records are public information, but a lawyer for the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. said reporters should be denied access to many of the records they are seeking.

U.S. District Judge James Nowlin of Austin, Tex., said in his order that the NCAA and Southwest Conference are covered by the Texas Open Records Act. But he said he is continuing his review of the NCAA and conference records to see if any of the documents are covered by exceptions in that law.

The suit was filed by the Dallas Times Herald, the Dallas Morning News and Belo Broadcasting of Dallas. Nowlin agreed with the news organizations that conference and NCAA records are public because those groups spend public money.