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Office of the Attorney General - State of Texas John Cornyn |
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May 29, 2001 Mr. Charles M. Allen, II
OR2001-2200 Dear Mr. Allen: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 147749. The City of Richardson Police Department (the "department") received a request for an incident report concerning a DWI arrest on March 15, 2001, service number 0001-020192. You have released certain documents to the requestor, but contend that the remaining requested information is excepted from public disclosure pursuant to sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted documents. First, you contend that the social security number is excepted from public disclosure pursuant to section of 552.101 of the Government Code. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." A social security number may be confidential under section 552.101 in conjunction with the 1990 amendments to the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(c)(2)(C)(viii)(I), if the social security number was obtained or is maintained by a governmental body pursuant to any provision of law enacted on or after October 1, 1990. See Open Records Decision No. 622 at 2-4 (1994). In this instance, however, the requestor has a special right of access to his own social security number under section 552.023, and the department must release it to him. Gov't Code § 552.023 (person has special right of access to information excepted from public disclosure by laws intended to protect that person's privacy interests). Second, we note that the requested information contains criminal history information that is confidential under section 552.101. Criminal history record information ("CHRI") obtained from the National Crime Information Center (the "NCIC") or the Texas Crime Information Center (the "TCIC") is confidential under federal and state law. Federal regulations prohibit the release to the general public of CHRI maintained in state and local CHRI systems. See 28 C.F.R. § 20.21(c)(1) ("Use of criminal history record information disseminated to noncriminal justice agencies shall be limited to the purpose for which it was given"), (c)(2) ("No agency or individual shall confirm the existence or nonexistence of criminal history record information to any person or agency that would not be eligible to receive the information itself."). Section 411.083 of the Government Code provides that any CHRI maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety (the "DPS") is confidential. Gov't Code § 411.083(a). Similarly, CHRI obtained from the DPS pursuant to statute also is confidential and may be disclosed only in very limited instances. Id. § 411.084; see also id. § 411.087 (restrictions on disclosure of CHRI obtained from DPS also apply to CHRI obtained from other criminal justice agencies). Thus, the department must withhold the CHRI under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with federal law and chapter 411 of the Government Code. We note that the person who is the subject of the CHRI may obtain his own CHRI from DPS . Gov't Code § 411.083 (b)(3). Finally, the submitted documents also a driver's license number that is excepted from disclosure under section 552.130 of the Government Code. Section 552.130(a)(1) excepts from public disclosure information relating to a driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state. In this instance, however, the requestor has a special right of access to his own driver's license number under section 552.023. This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other records or any other circumstances. This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited from asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by filing suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar days. Id. § 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the governmental body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the attorney general have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id. § 552.321(a). If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested information, the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the statute, the attorney general expects that, within 10 calendar days of this ruling, the governmental body will do one of the following three things: 1) release the public records; 2) notify the requestor of the exact day, time, and place that copies of the records will be provided or that the records can be inspected; or 3) notify the requestor of the governmental body's intent to challenge this letter ruling in court. If the governmental body fails to do one of these three things within 10 calendar days of this ruling, then the requestor should report that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at 877/673-6839. The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county attorney. Id. § 552.3215(e). If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the requested information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental body. Id. § 552.321(a); Texas Department of Public Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408,411 (Tex. App.-Austin 1992, no writ). Please remember that under the Act the release of information triggers certain procedures for costs and charges to the requestor. If records are released in compliance with this ruling, be sure that all charges for the information are at or below the legal amounts. Questions or complaints about over-charging must be directed to Hadassah Schloss at the General Services Commission at 512/475-2497. If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments about this ruling, they may contact our office. Although there is no statutory deadline for contacting us, the attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days of the date of this ruling. Sincerely, Greg Simpson
GS/LM/seg Ref.: ID# 147749
c: Mr. Oscar Thomas Schluesselheim
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |