February 18, 2004

Mr. David Anderson
General Counsel
Texas Education Agency
1701 North Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas 78701-1494

OR2004-1206

Dear Mr. Anderson:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act, chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 196351.

The Texas Education Agency ("TEA") received a request for the "[n]ame, address and account numbers of all financial institutions to which TEA transfers funds for the use of Texas Academy of Excellence" and the "[n]ame, address and account numbers of all financial institutions at which Texas Academy of Excellence maintains accounts." You have submitted for our review several direct deposit authorization forms. You assert that these forms are excepted from disclosure under section 552.136 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.136(b) of the Government Code states that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a credit card, debit card, charge card, or access device number that is collected, assembled, or maintained by or for a governmental body is confidential." Gov't Code § 552.136(b). The definition of "access device" includes an account number that may be used to obtain money, goods, services or another thing of value or to initiate a transfer of funds other than a transfer originated solely by paper instrument. Id. § 552.136(a). The submitted information includes financial institution customer account numbers. We conclude that TEA must withhold these account numbers pursuant to section 552.136. We have marked the information accordingly. The remaining 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 thirty calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within ten 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 ten 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 ten 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); Tex. 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 ten calendar days of the date of this ruling.

Sincerely,

Kay Hastings
Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Division
KH/sdk
Ref: ID# 196351
Enc. Submitted documents

c: Mr. Karl G. Johnson, Jr.
Law Office of Karl G. Johnson, Jr., P.C.
P.O. Box 50499
Austin, Texas 78763-0499
(w/o enclosures)