 Office of the ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG ABBOTT | |
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April 15, 2003 Mr. Lance Beversdorff
OR2003-2525 Dear Mr. Beversdorff: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 179698. The Texas Youth Commission (the "commission") received a written request for the requestor's medical file and all records pertaining to a particular incident involving the requestor, who you characterize as a "youth committed to the care and custody of the commission." You state that most of the responsive information will be released to the requestor.(1) You contend, however, that the information you have highlighted is excepted from required disclosure pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with the common-law right of privacy. We note at the outset that the submitted information is subject to section 552.022 of the Government Code. Section 552.022(a) provides in pertinent part as follows: the following categories of information are public information and not excepted from required disclosure under this chapter unless they are expressly confidential under other law: (1) a completed report, audit, evaluation, or investigation made of, for, or by a governmental body, except as provided by Section 552.108[.] Gov't Code § 552.022(a)(1). In this instance, the submitted information consists of a "Final Report of Investigation." Thus, this information must be released under section 552.022(a)(1) unless it is expressly confidential under other law or excepted from disclosure under section 552.108.(2) Because you claim that the highlighted information is confidential by law, and thus is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code, we will consider your claim. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision," including information made confidential by common-law privacy. Common-law privacy protects information if (1) it contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) it is not of legitimate concern to the public. See Industrial Found. v. Texas Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931 (1977). The type of information considered intimate and embarrassing by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating 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. See id. at 683. Based on our review of the information at issue, we find that the names and identifying information of the juvenile offenders contained in the submitted documents are protected from disclosure under the common-law right to privacy. Accordingly, we conclude that the commission must withhold the yellow highlighted information in the submitted documents pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with the common-law right to privacy. Cf. Fam. Code § 58.007; see also Open Records Decision No. 394 (1983). The remaining submitted records 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 Dep't of Pub. 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
Footnotes 1. We note that among the records you intend to release to the requestor are the requestor's confidential records. See Gov't Code § 552.023; Occ. Code ch. 159. If the commission receives a subsequent request for this same information in the future from a different individual, the commission must request another records decision from this office at that time. 2. Because you do not raise section 552.108, we do not consider the applicability of this exception. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |