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Office of the Attorney General - State of Texas John Cornyn |
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May 23, 2002 Ms. Melissa M. Fletcher
OR2002-2774 Dear Ms. Fletcher: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 163376. The City of Sachse (the "city"), which you represent, received two requests for the date the insurance covering the requestor's children went into effect, and what documents were presented by a named police officer to obtain the insurance coverage. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.117 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and have reviewed the submitted information. 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 common-law privacy and excepts from disclosure private facts about an individual. See Industrial Found. v. Texas Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668 (Tex. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931 (1977). Information must be withheld from the public under common-law privacy when (1) it is highly intimate and embarrassing such that its release would be highly objectionable to a person of ordinary sensibilities, and (2) there is no legitimate public interest in its disclosure. See id. at 685; see also Open Records Decision No. 611 at 1 (1992). Prior decisions of this office have found that financial information relating only to an individual ordinarily satisfies the requirements of the test for common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 600 (1992) (personal financial choices concerning insurance, designation of beneficiary of employee's retirement benefits are generally confidential), 545 (1990) (common-law privacy protects personal financial information). However, where a transaction is funded in part by the state, it involves the employee in a transaction with the state and is not protected by privacy. Thus, information about the essential features of an employee's participation in a group insurance program funded in part by the state involves him in a transaction with the state and, therefore, is not excepted from disclosure by a right of privacy. On the other hand, information is excepted from disclosure if it relates to a voluntary investment that the employee made in an optional benefits plan offered by the state. Open Records Decision No. 600 (1992). You state that the submitted document reveals the police officer's decision whether to enroll in optional coverages. After reviewing the document, we conclude that it is confidential under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy, and must be withheld. As we are able to make this determination, we do not address your claim under section 552.117. 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, Kristen Bates
c: Mr. Chris Taylor
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |