 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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September 6, 2005 Ms. Kathleen Weisskopf
OR2005-08077 Dear Ms. Weisskopf: 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# 231568. The City of Arlington and the Arlington Police Department (collectively the "department") received a request for documents pertaining to an automobile accident and for all police records pertaining to two named individuals. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Initially, we note that the documents you seek to withhold include a ST-3 accident report form completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (Texas Peace Officer's Accident Report form). Section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code states that except as provided by subsection (c), accident reports are privileged and confidential. Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of accident reports to a person who provides two of the following three pieces of information: (1) date of the accident; (2) name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) specific location of the accident. Transp. Code § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, the Department of Public Safety or another governmental body is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides the governmental body with two or more pieces of information specified by the statute. Id. In the present request, the requestor has provided all three pieces of the required information for the accident report. Accordingly, the department must release the accident report we have marked in Exhibit B pursuant to section 550.065(c). You claim that Exhibit C consists of criminal history record information ("CHRI"). Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision" and encompasses laws that make criminal history record information CHRI confidential. CHRI "means information collected about a person by a criminal justice agency that consists of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations, and other formal criminal charges and their dispositions" but does not include "driving record information maintained by [the Department of Public Safety ('DPS')] under Subchapter C, Chapter 521, Transportation Code." Gov't Code § 411.082(2). CHRI obtained from the National Crime Information Center ("NCIC") or the Texas Crime Information Center ("TCIC") is confidential under federal and state law. Federal regulations prohibit the release of CHRI maintained in state and local CHRI systems to the general public. See 28 C.F.R. § 20.21(c)(1) ("Use of criminal history record information disseminated to noncriminal justice agencies shall be limited to the purpose for which it was given."), (2) ("No agency or individual shall confirm the existence or nonexistence of criminal history record information to any person or agency that would not be eligible to receive the information itself."). Under chapter 411 of the Government Code, a criminal justice agency may obtain CHRI from DPS or from another criminal justice agency. Id. §§ 411.083(b)(1), .087(a)(2), .089(a). However, CHRI so obtained is confidential and may only be disclosed in very limited instances. Id. § 411.084; see also id. § 411.087 (restrictions on disclosure of CHRI obtained from DPS also apply to CHRI obtained from other criminal justice agencies). In this instance, however, the information submitted for our review does not contain any CHRI generated by TCIC or NCIC. Accordingly, Exhibit C of the information is not excepted from required public disclosure by section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with chapter 411. We next discuss your claim under Section 552.108 of the Government Code. Section 552.108 excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if: (1) release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Generally, a governmental body claiming section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See Gov't Code §§ 552.108(a)(1), (b)(1),.301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state that the submitted information in Exhibit B pertains to a pending investigation. Based on this representation, we agree that section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to the submitted information in Exhibit B, and it may be withheld on that basis. See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases). We note, however, that section 552.108 does not except from disclosure basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime. Gov't Code § 552.108(c); Houston Chronicle, 531 S.W.2d at 186-188; Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976). Thus, with the exception of the basic front page offense information, you may withhold Exhibit B of the submitted information from disclosure based on section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. We note that you have the discretion to release all or part of the information at issue that is not otherwise confidential by law. Gov't Code § 552.007. A portion of the remaining information in Exhibit C is subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts information relating to a Texas motor vehicle driver's license and information relating to a Texas motor vehicle title or registration. Gov't Code § 552.130. The department must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. Finally we note that the submitted information in Exhibit B 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 Act. Therefore, the department must withhold the social security number contained in the submitted information under section 552.147.(2) In summary, the department must release the accident report pursuant to section 550.065(c) of the Transportation Code. With the exception of basic information that must be released, the department may withhold the information in Exhibit B under section 552.108 of the Government Code. The motor vehicle information we have marked in Exhibit C must be withheld under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The department must withhold the social security number in Exhibit B under section 552.147 of the Government Code. The remaining 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); 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 Office of the Attorney General 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. Charles J. Quaid
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 |