 Office of the ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG ABBOTT | |
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April 17, 2003 Mr. Steve Martin
OR2003-2629 Dear Mr. Martin: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 179631. The Department of Banking (the "department") received a request for three categories of information regarding American Church Trust Company. In your February 13, 2003 letter to this office, you state that you have provided some of the requested information to the requestor. You claim that portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and have reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Section 181.301 of the Finance Code reads in part as follows: (a) Except as expressly provided otherwise by this subtitle or a rule adopted under Section 181.003(a)(1), the following are confidential and may not be disclosed by the banking commissioner or an employee of the department: (1) information directly or indirectly obtained by the department in any manner, including through an application or examination, concerning the financial condition or business affairs of a state trust company . . . other than the public portions of a report of condition or income statement[.] Fin. Code § 181.301(a)(1). The submitted information apparently includes part of a quarterly report of condition and income, which is a statement required to be filed with the department under section 181.107 of the Finance Code. This report is public, with the exception of any portion designated as confidential by the banking commissioner. Id. § 181.007(c). You do not state that any of the submitted information has been designated as confidential by the commissioner. To the extent the highlighted portion of the submitted information has been designated as confidential by the commissioner, this information is confidential under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 181.301(a)(1) of the Finance Code, and must be withheld from disclosure. Otherwise, you must release this information 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, V.G. Schimmel
c: Ms. Sue Edwards
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |