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Office of the Attorney General - State of Texas John Cornyn |
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August 29, 2001 Mr. Lou Bright
OR2001-3823 Dear Mr. Bright: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 151340. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (the "commission") received a request for a specified investigation report. You have released the commission's report with the exception of two social security numbers. You claim that the social security numbers are excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. You argue that the social security numbers in the submitted information are excepted by section 552.101 in conjunction with section 51.251 of the Occupations Code. Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." This section encompasses information protected by statute. A note following section 51.251 of the Occupations Code provides the following: [t]he social security number of an applicant for or holder of a license, certificate of registration, or other legal authorization issued by a licensing agency to practice in a specified occupation or profession that is provided to the licensing agency is confidential and is not subject to disclosure under the open records law. You state that the submitted information contains the social security numbers of individuals who hold a seller/server training certificate issued under the authority of the commission. You also state that the information contains the social security number of a trainer who is certified by the commission. Section 106.14 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code provides that the commission shall adopt rules and policies establishing the minimum requirements for approved seller training programs. Alco. Bev. Code § 106.14(b). You state that chapter 50 of title 16 of the Texas Administrative Code was adopted pursuant to the obligation in section 160.14 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code. Pursuant to section 50.8 of title 16 of the Texas Administrative Code, the commission issues an appropriate certificate to each trainee that completes an approved seller training program. 16 T.A.C. § 50.8(a). Further, the commission issues trainer certifications for the seller training program. 16 T.A.C. § 50.6. Therefore, you contend that each highlighted social security number is that of an applicant for or holder of a certificate of registration, or other legal authorization issued by the commission. Based on your representations, we conclude that the social security numbers provided to the commission must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 51.251 of the Occupations Code. 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, Jennifer H. Bialek
c: Mr. Jamie Ortiz
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |