 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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June 30, 2005 Ms. Pamela Smith
OR2005-05817 Dear Ms. Smith: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 227308. The Texas Department of Public Safety (the "department") received a request for information regarding a particular administrative inquiry. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.103 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Initially, we note that the submitted information constitutes a completed investigation made of, for, or by the department. Section 552.022 of the Government Code provides that "a completed report, audit, evaluation, or investigation made of, for, or by a governmental body" constitutes "public information . . . not excepted from required disclosure . . . unless . . . expressly confidential under other law" or excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. Gov't Code § 552.022(a)(1). You do not claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108. You assert instead that it may be withheld pursuant to section 552.103 of the Government Code. This section is a discretionary exception to disclosure that protects a governmental body's interests and is therefore not other law that makes information expressly confidential for purposes of section 552.022(a). See Dallas Area Rapid Transit v. Dallas Morning News, 4 S.W.3d 469 (Tex. App.--Dallas 1999, no pet.) (governmental body may waive section 552.103); see also Open Records Decision No. 522 (1989) (discretionary exceptions in general). Thus, none of the submitted information may be withheld pursuant to section 552.103. However, we note that the department may be required to withhold some of the submitted information pursuant to section 552.1175 of the Government Code. Section 552.1175 applies to peace officers as defined by article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and provides in pertinent part: (b) Information that relates to the home address, home telephone number, or social security number of an individual to whom this section applies, or that reveals whether the individual has family members is confidential and may not be disclosed to the public under this chapter if the individual to whom the information relates: (1) chooses to restrict public access to the information; and (2) notifies the governmental body of the individual's choice on a form provided by the governmental body, accompanied by evidence of the individual's status. Gov't Code § 552.1175(b). The submitted records contain the home address and telephone number of a police officer who did not work for the department. If this individual is currently a peace officer and elects to restrict access to this information in accordance with section 552.1175, the department must withhold the address and telephone number we have marked. Otherwise, the department must release this information. We also note, that the submitted information contains social security numbers. Section 552.147 of the Government Code(1) provides that "[t]he social security number of a living person is excepted from" required public disclosure. We note, however, that section 552.147 excepts information from disclosure in order to protect individuals' privacy. Therefore, the requestor is entitled to his own social security number, and such information may not be withheld under section552.147. See Gov't Code § 552.023(b) (governmental body may not deny access to person to whom information relates or that person's authorized representative on grounds that information is considered confidential by privacy principles). However, the department must withhold the social security numbers of any living person , other than the requestor, contained in the submitted information under section 552.147.(2) In summary, the department must withhold the marked police officer's home address and telephone number if he is currently a peace office and elects to restrict access to this information in accordance with 552.1175. The department must also withhold the social security numbers of individuals other than the requestor under section 552.147. The remaining submitted information must be released to this requestor.(3) 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, upon receiving this ruling, the governmental body will either release the public records promptly pursuant to section 552.221(a) of the Government Code or file a lawsuit challenging this ruling pursuant to section 552.324 of the Government Code. If the governmental body fails to do one of these things, 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 10 calendar days of the date of this ruling. Sincerely, Louis T. Dubuque
c: Mr. Ron Marcum
Footnotes 1. Added by Act of May 23, 2005, 79th Leg., R.S., S.B. 1485, § 1, sec. 552.147(a) (to be codified at Tex. Gov't Code § 552.147). 2. We note that section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact a living person's social security number from public release without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office under the Act. 3. The records being released contain information relating to the requestor that may be excepted from disclosure to the general public under laws and exceptions designed to protect privacy. However, as the subject of this information, the requestor has a special right of access to it. See Gov't Code § 552.023(b). If the department receives another request for this information from someone other than this requestor or her authorized representative, the department should again seek our decision.
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB:WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |