Open Records Decision No. 564
July 23, 1990

	Re:  Whether appraisal information on real property acquired by the state may be 
withheld when it seeks to acquire adjacent parcels of land  (RQ-1920)

Mr. Robert E. Shaddock
General Counsel
State Department of Highways and Public Transportation
DeWitt C. Greer State Highway Building
11th & Brazos
Austin, Texas  78701-2483

Dear Mr. Shaddock:

	You have received a request under the Open Records Act, article 6252-17a, 
V.T.C.S., for appraisal reports concerning a parcel of land acquired by your department 
in a project in Harris County.  You state that the total project consists of over 725 
parcels, and the parcel in question is one of 74 located in segments 8 and 9 of this 
project.  Only two of the 74 parcels had been acquired at the time you received this 
request.  To maintain the state's negotiating position with respect to the remaining parcels 
in these segments and in the project, you believe that it is necessary to withhold appraisal 
information for parcels already acquired until you have completed negotiations or 
condemnation proceedings for the remaining parcels.  You claim that section 3(a)(5) of 
the Open Records Act allows you to withhold this information.

	Section 3(a)(5) of the Open Records Act excepts the following information from 
availability to the public pursuant to section 3(a):

information pertaining to the location of real or personal property 
for public purposes prior to public announcement of the project, and 
information pertaining to appraisals or purchase price of real or 
personal property for public purposes prior to the formal award of 
contracts therefor.

V.T.C.S. art. 6252-17a, § 3(a)(5) (emphasis added).  This exception was designed to 
protect a governmental body's planning and negotiating position with respect to 
particular transactions.  See Open Records Decision Nos. 357 (1982); 222 (1979).

	Section 3(a)(5) applies to information pertaining to appraisals or purchase price 
of real property, not only to the particular appraisal report prepared for a specific parcel 
of property.  Parcels of land that are adjacent or near one another presumably would have 
some similar features that are relevant to valuing the land.  Thus, an appraisal report for 
one parcel of land could constitute information pertaining to appraisals or pricing of 
nearby land.  The interpretation of section 3(a)(5) proposed by the Highway Department 
is consistent with the language of this section.

	It is also consistent with the policy underlying section 3(a)(5).  Information about 
the appraisal of acquired parcels of land could help owners of adjacent or nearby land to 
determine how the department would value their property, and thus strengthen their 
bargaining position against the state.  We agree that section 3(a)(5) can protect appraisal 
information about a parcel of property acquired in advance of other parcels, if release of 
this information would harm the department's negotiating position with respect to the 
other parcels of land.

	Whether the appraisal report on a specific parcel of property would constitute 
information pertaining to the appraisal or purchase price of other land is a fact question 
which cannot be resolved in a formal decision of this office.  Once the department makes 
a good faith determination that release of an appraisal report of property it has acquired 
would damage its negotiating position with respect to nearby parcels, we will accept that 
determination unless the records or other information show the contrary as a matter of 
law.  See Open Records Decision No. 426 (1985) (relying on governmental body's 
conclusion that certain information constitutes a trade secret).  In the present case, where 
the department has acquired two parcels of land out of 74 in the segments, we cannot say 
as a matter of law that its decision is incorrect.  Accordingly, you may withhold the 
appraisal report.

SUMMARY

	Section 3(a)(5) of the Open Records Act applies to an appraisal 
report concerning a parcel of land acquired by the State Department 
of Highways and Public Transportation if release of the information 
would damage its negotiating position in the acquisition of nearby 
parcels of property.  Whether a particular appraisal report on a 
specific parcel of property constitutes "information pertaining to 
appraisals or purchase price" of other real property is a fact question 
which cannot be answered in a formal decision of the attorney 
general.  The department must make a good faith determination on 
this question, subject to review by this office.

Very truly yours,

Jim Mattox
Attorney General of Texas

Mary Keller
First Assistant Attorney General

Lou McCreary
Executive Assistant Attorney General

Judge Zollie Steakley
Special Assistant Attorney General

Renea Hicks
Special Assistant Attorney General

Rick Gilpin
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Prepared by

Susan Garrison
Assistant Attorney General