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Office of the Attorney General - State of Texas John Cornyn |
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February 13, 2002 Mr. Steven D. Monté
OR2002-0691 Dear Mr. Monté: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 158586. The Dallas Police Department (the "department") received a written request for "police and fire incident reports for each and every unit located within 5200, 5204, 5206 and 5210 Reiger Ave., Dallas Texas, 75214 for the time period between October 1, 2000 and the present." You state that most of the requested information will be released to the requestor. You contend, however, that some of the requested information is excepted from required public disclosure pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. We note at the outset that you did not request a decision from this office within ten business days after the department's receipt of the records request. Section 552.301(a) of the Government Code requires a governmental body to request a decision from the attorney general within ten business days after receiving a request for information that the governmental body wishes to withhold, unless there has been a previous determination that the requested information is excepted from required public disclosure. When a governmental body fails to comply with the requirements of section 552.301, the information at issue is presumed public. Gov't Code § 552.302; Hancock v. State Bd. of Ins., 797 S.W.2d 379 (Tex. App.--Austin 1990, no writ); City of Houston v. Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co., 673 S.W.2d 316, 323 (Tex. App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 1984, no writ); Open Records Decision No. 319 (1982). The governmental body must show a compelling reason to withhold the information to overcome this presumption. Gov't Code § 552.302; see also Hancock, 797 S.W.2d at 381. A compelling reason for withholding information is demonstrated where information is made confidential by other law or where third party interests are at issue. Open Records Decision No. 150 (1977). The applicability of the exception you raise, section 552.101, provides a compelling reason for withholding information from the public. See Open Records Decision No. 150 (1977) (demonstration that information is made confidential by statute or comes under the protection of exception to disclosure intended to protect privacy interests constitutes compelling reason for non-disclosure). Accordingly, we will consider the applicability of section 552.101 of the Government Code to the submitted documents. Section 552.101 of the Government Code protects "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision," including information coming within the common-law right to privacy. Industrial Found. v. Texas Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668 (Tex. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931 (1977). Common-law privacy protects information if it is highly intimate or embarrassing, such that its release would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and it is of no legitimate concern to the public. Id. at 683-85. In Industrial Foundation, the Texas Supreme Court considered intimate and embarrassing information that relates to sexual assault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children, psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs. Id. at 683. This office has also determined that common-law privacy protects the following information: the kinds of prescription drugs a person is taking, Open Records Decision No. 455 (1987); the results of mandatory urine testing, id.; illnesses, operations, and physical handicaps of applicants, id.; the fact that a person attempted suicide, Open Records Decision No. 422 (1984); the names of parents of victims of sudden infant death syndrome, Attorney General Opinion JM-81; and information regarding drug overdoses, acute alcohol intoxication, obstetrical/gynecological illnesses, convulsions/seizures, or emotional/mental distress. Open Records Decision No. 343 (1982). After reviewing the information at issue, we agree that some of the submitted information implicates the privacy interests of some individuals. We have marked the information that the department must withhold on privacy grounds; the remaining information must be released to the requestor. 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 Texas Building and Procurement 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, Ronald J. Bounds
c: Ms. Greta Crawford
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |