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Office of the Attorney General - State of Texas John Cornyn |
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April 2, 2002 Mr. Keith Stretcher
OR2002-1616 Dear Mr. Stretcher: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 160659. The City of Midland (the "city") received a request for records related to prior open records requests. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under article 6701(d) of Texas Revised Civil Statutes(1) and Chapter 550 of the Texas Transportation Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Included among the documents you seek to withhold is an accident report form that appears to have been completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). You claim that the accident report contained in the file is excepted from disclosure by section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code. Section 550.065(b) states that, except as provided by subsection (c), accident reports are privileged and confidential. Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for release of accident reports to a person who provides two or more of the following three pieces of information: (1) date of the accident; (2) name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) specific location of the accident. See Transp. Code § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, the Department of Public Safety or another governmental entity is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides the agency with two or more pieces of information specified by the statute. Id. In the situation at hand, the requestor has not provided the city with two of the three pieces of information. Thus, the city must withhold the accident report under section 550.065(b). We note that the submitted information contains copies of photographs of the accident scene and the involved vehicles. You do not inform us that the photographs are part of the accident report. In this case, because the requestor has not provided two or more pieces of information specified by the statute, the city must withhold the photographs if they are part of the peace officer's accident report. Id. You express concern that release of the information contained in Exhibit B will circumvent the intent of article 6701(d) V.A.C.S. and chapter 550 of the Texas Transportation Code. The Public Information Act (the "Act") prohibits consideration of the motives of the requesting party. See Gov't Code §§ 552.222(b) (governmental body may not inquire into purpose of open records request); 552.223 (uniform treatment of requests for information); see also Open Records Decision Nos. 542 (1990), 508 (1988). Generally speaking, information that is open to one member of the public is open to all. See also Gov't Code § 552.001(b) (Act to be liberally construed in favor of granting a request for information). Consequently, the requestor's reasons for obtaining the instant records are not relevant to any analysis as to whether the records are subject to required public disclosure. The submitted documents contain motor vehicle information that is excepted from disclosure under section 552.130 of the Government Code. Section 552.130 provides in relevant part: (a) Information is excepted from the requirement of Section 552.021 if the information relates to: (1) a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state; [or] (2) a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state[.] You must withhold the license plate numbers under section 552.130. The remainder of the submitted 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. We note that a third party may challenge this ruling by filing suit seeking to withhold information from a requestor. Gov't Code § 552.325. 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, Cindy Nettles
c: Mr. Jack H. Taylor, Jr.
Footnotes 1. The Seventy-fourth Legislature repealed and codified article 6701d as section 550.065 of the Transportation Code without substantive change. See Act of May 1, 1995, 74th Leg., R.S., ch. 165, §§ 24, 25, 1995 Tex. Gen. Laws 1025, 1870-71. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |