 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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March 11, 2004 Mr. Jerry Bruce Cain
OR2004-1855 Dear Mr. Cain: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 197576. The Laredo Police Department (the "department") received four requests for call and dispatch log and call for service information involving specified time intervals and street addresses. You believe that some of the requested information may be excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and have reviewed the information you submitted.(1) Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from required public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." This section encompasses information that is made confidential under other statutes. You believe that some of the submitted information may be confidential under section 771.061 of the Health and Safety Code. Section 771.061 makes confidential "[i]nformation that a service provider of telecommunications service is required to furnish to a governmental entity in providing computerized 9-1-1 service" and "[i]nformation that is contained in an address database maintained by a governmental entity or a third party used in providing computerized 9-1-1 service." Health & Safety Code § 771.061(a). You inform us that the department is part of the 911 emergency communications network in the state of Texas. You also inform us that the submitted documents contain information that was furnished to the department by the provider of the 911 communications system. Based on your representations, we conclude that to the extent that the submitted information relates to the provision of computerized 911 service, and to the extent that this information was required to be furnished to the department by a telecommunications service provider or is contained in an address database used in providing computerized 911 service, the information is confidential under section 771.061 of the Health and Safety Code and must be withheld from the requestor under section 552.101 of the Government Code. See also Open Records Decision No. 661 at 1-2 (1999). If the department does not provide computerized 911 service, or if the submitted information was not required to be furnished to the department by a telecommunications service provider and is not contained in an address database used in providing computerized 911 service, then none of the information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 771.061 of the Health and Safety Code. We note that 911 caller information also is made confidential under sections 772.118, 772.218 and 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code. Chapter 772 of the Health and Safety Code authorizes the development of local emergency communications districts. Sections 772.118, 772.218, and 772.318 are applicable to emergency 911 districts established in accordance with chapter 772. See Open Records Decision No. 649 (1996). These sections make the originating telephone numbers and addresses of 911 callers that are furnished by a service supplier confidential. Id. at 2. Section 772.118 applies to an emergency communication district for a county with a population of more than two million. Section 772.218 applies to an emergency communication district for a county with a population of more than 860,000. Section 772.318 applies to an emergency communication district for a county with a population of more than 20,000. Therefore, if the City of Laredo is part of an emergency communication district established under sections 772.118, 772.218, or 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code, then the originating telephone numbers and addresses of 911 callers that were furnished by a service supplier must be withheld from the public under section 552.101 of the Government Code. In summary: (1) if the department provides a computerized 911 service, and to the extent that the submitted information was required to be furnished to the department by a telecommunications service provider or is contained in an address database used in providing computerized 911 service, any such information must be withheld from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 771.061 of the Health and Safety Code; and (2) if the City of Laredo is part of an emergency communication district established under sections 772.118, 772.218, or 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code, the originating telephone numbers and addresses of 911 callers that were furnished by a service supplier must be withheld from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. Any information that is not confidential under section 771.061 or sections 772.118, 772.218, or 772.318 is not excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code and must be released. 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, James W. Morris, III
c: Mr. Jesus Regalado
Mr. Karim H. Vellani
Mr. Michael Capobianco
Footnotes 1. This letter ruling assumes that the submitted "representative copies" of information are truly representative of the responsive information as a whole. This ruling neither reaches nor authorizes the department to withhold any information that is substantially different from the submitted information. See Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(D); Open Records Decision Nos. 499 at 6 (1988), 497 at 4 (1988). |