 Office of the ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG ABBOTT | |
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July 16, 2003 Mr. Scott A. Kelly
OR2003-4921 Dear Mr. Kelly: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 184420. Texas A&M University (the "university") received a request for "[a]ll correspondence, including letters, memos and e-mails since August 1, 2001 between the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and [the university.]" You inform us that the university has provided all of requested records except for an employee's personal data and certain marked e-mail addresses, which you contend are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.117 and 552.137 of the Government Code respectively. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.(1) Section 552.117(a)(1) of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure the present and former home addresses and telephone numbers, social security numbers, and family member information of current or former officials or employees of a governmental body who timely request that such information be kept confidential under section 552.024. Whether a particular piece of information is protected by section 552.117 must be determined at the time the request for it is made. See Open Records Decision No. 530 at 5 (1989). You inform us that the information you have marked pertains to an individual who elected, prior to the university's receipt of the present request, to keep his personal information confidential. Based on this representation, we agree that this individual's home address and telephone numbers must be withheld pursuant to section 552.117. Section 552.137 of the Government Code provides that "[a]n e-mail address of a member of the public that is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental body is confidential and not subject to disclosure under [the Act]." However, this section does not apply to a government employee's work e-mail address because such address is not that of the employee as a "member of the public" but is instead the address of the individual as a government employee. We further note that section 552.137 does not apply to a business's general e-mail address or website address. Unless the individual members of the public have affirmatively consented to release of their e-mail addresses, the university must withhold the marked e-mail addresses. See Gov't Code § 552.137(b). In summary, pursuant to section 552.117(a)(1), the university must withhold the home address and telephone number of the individual who made a timely election to keep such information confidential. The marked e-mail addresses must be withheld under section 552.137 unless their owners have consented to their release. 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, Denis C. McElroy
c: Ms. Sharon Jayson
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 |