 Office of the ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG ABBOTT | |
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February 6, 2003 Ms. Lillian Guillen Graham
OR2003-0783 Dear Ms. Graham: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 176254. The City of Mesquite Police Department (the "department") received a request for the name, telephone number, and/or contact information of the caller reporting an automobile accident on November 10, 2002 at 3:55 on North Town East Boulevard. You state that you have construed this as a request for the call sheet for the incident. You claim that a portion of the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. We first note that, although you do not raise any specific exception to disclosure under section 552.101 in your brief, you have marked certain information as excepted under particular sections of the Health and Safety Code. We thus understand you to contend that the telephone number and address of the caller contained in the submitted records are protected from disclosure by section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code.(1) In Open Records Decision No. 649 (1996), which interpreted section 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code, we examined several confidentiality provisions in chapter 772 of the Health and Safety Code. To the extent that the telephone number and address of the caller contained in the submitted records involve an emergency 9-1-1 district established in accordance with chapter 772 of the Health and Safety Code, which authorizes the development of local emergency communications districts, the information may be confidential under chapter 772. Sections 772.118, 772.218, and 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code make confidential the originating telephone numbers and addresses of 9-1-1 callers furnished by a service supplier. See Open Records Decision No. 649. Section 772.118 applies to emergency communication districts for counties with a population over two million. Section 772.218 applies to emergency communication districts for counties with a population over 860,000. Section 772.318 applies to emergency communication districts for counties with a population over 20,000. Subchapter E, which applies to counties with populations over 1.5 million, does not contain a confidentiality provision regarding 9-1-1 telephone numbers and addresses. See Health & Safety Code § 772.401, et seq. Thus, if the emergency communication district here is subject to section 772.118, 772.218, or 772.318, the originating telephone number and address of a 9-1-1 caller contained in the submitted information are protected from public disclosure under section 552.101 as information deemed confidential by statute. If the emergency communication district here is not subject to section 772.118, 772.218, or 772.318, the caller's telephone number and address must be released. You claim that the submitted records contain information derived from motor vehicle records. 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[.] The department must withhold the motor vehicle information that you have marked under section 552.130. We have marked some additional information that must be withheld under section 552.130. We note, however, that information protected under section 552.130 is intended to protect a person's privacy. Therefore, under section 552.023 of the Government Code, a person who is the subject of the information or the person's authorized representative has a special right of access to such information. Accordingly, if the requestor has an ownership interest in the vehicle, you must release this information to her. In summary, to the extent that the telephone number and address that you have marked is the originating number and address of a 9-1-1 caller, and provided that the emergency communication district here is subject to section 772.118, 772.218, or 772.318, the telephone number and address of the 9-1-1 caller are protected from public disclosure under section 552.101. The department must withhold the motor vehicle information that you have marked under section 552.130, as well as the information that we have marked. However, if the requestor has an ownership interest in the vehicle, you must release this information to her. The remaining 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: Ms. Judy Giles
Footnotes 1. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |