 Office of the ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG ABBOTT | |
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July 14, 2003 Ms. Cathy Bradford
OR2003-4835 Dear Ms. Bradford: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 184115. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (the "department") received a request for certain information relating to LakeView Mobile Home Park in Weslaco and the proposed Llano Grande State Park and World Birding Center ("WBC"), all agreements between the department and the city of Weslaco, and the minutes of any department meetings where LakeView Mobile Home Park was discussed. You advise that the department has released three responsive contracts signed by the parties. We note that you have not submitted the requested minutes, nor have you raised any exceptions to disclosure of such information. We assume that the department has released this information to the extent that it exists. If it has not, it must do so at this time. See Gov't Code §§ 552.021, .301, .302; Open Records Decision No. 664 (2000) (concluding that section 552.221(a) requires that information not excepted from disclosure must be released as soon as possible under circumstances). You claim that the remaining requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.105, 552.107, and 552.111 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and have reviewed the submitted representative sample of information.(1) Section 552.105 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating to: (1) the location of real or personal property for a public purpose prior to public announcement of the project; or (2) appraisals or purchase price of real or personal property for a public purpose prior to the formal award of contracts for the property. Section 552.105 is designed to protect a governmental body's planning and negotiating position with regard to particular transactions. Open Records Decision Nos. 564 (1990), 357 (1982), 310 (1982). Information excepted under section 552.105 that pertains to such negotiations may be excepted so long as the transaction is not complete. Open Records Decision No. 310 (1982). A governmental body may withhold information "which, if released, would impair or tend to impair [its] 'planning and negotiating position in regard to particular transactions.'" Open Records Decision No. 357 at 3 (1982) (quoting Open Records Decision No. 222 (1979)). The question of whether specific information, if publicly released, would impair a governmental body's planning and negotiating position in regard to particular transactions is a question of fact. Accordingly, this office will accept a governmental body's good faith determination in this regard, unless the contrary is clearly shown as a matter of law. Open Records Decision No. 564 (1990). You state that the information submitted as Attachments G-1 and G-2 relates to the department's plans to acquire property as part of the WBC project, the location of the land, and the possible terms under which the department would acquire the property. You assert that release of the information at issue would "clearly jeopardize [the department]'s planning and negotiating position with regard to its efforts to acquire the land in question, and could affect [the department]'s future plans for the proposed WBC site." Based on your representations and our review of the information, we believe that you have demonstrated the applicability of section 552.105 to Attachments G-1 and G-2. Thus, we conclude that the department may withhold this information under section 552.105 of the Government Code. As section 552.105 is dispositive, we need not address your remaining claims. 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
c: Mr. Mariano Castillo
Footnotes 1. We assume that the "sample" of records submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent that those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |