 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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August 16, 2005 Mr. Byrn Meredith
OR2005-07387 Dear Mr. Meredith: 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# 230464. The City of Granbury (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for information related to police calls taken by the city's police department on May 22, 2005. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. We have also considered comments submitted by the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.304 (providing that interested party may submit comments stating why information should or should not be released). Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information made confidential by other statutes. You assert that the telephone numbers and addresses of 9-1-1 callers in the submitted information are 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 explain the city is a member of the North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional 9-1-1 Emergency Number Program which provides computerized 9-1-1 service to the city. You further state the marked telephone numbers and addresses in the submitted information were furnished to the city by a telecommunications service provider. Based on your representations, we conclude these marked telephone numbers and addresses are confidential under section 771.061 of the Health and Safety Code and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code. See also Open Records Decision No. 661 at 1-2 (1999). You claim that the Texas motor vehicle record information in the submitted information is excepted from disclosure by section 552.130 of the Government Code. This provision excepts from disclosure information that "relates to . . . a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state [or] a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state." Gov't Code § 552.130. In accordance with section 552.130, the city must withhold the marked Texas motor vehicle record information. We note that the submitted information contains a social security number. 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 under the Act. Therefore, the city must withhold the marked social security number contained in the submitted information under section 552.147.(2) In summary, the marked telephone numbers and addresses must be withheld under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 771.061 of the Health and Safety Code. The marked Texas motor vehicle record information must be withheld under section 552.130. The marked social security number must be withheld under section 552.147. The remaining submitted information 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, 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, Ramsey A. Abarca
c: Ms. Melissa Slagle
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. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB:WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |