 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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November 1, 2005 Ms. Sandra Smith
OR2005-09871 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# 238547. The Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners (the "board") received two requests from the same requestor for all files relating to a particular chiropractor . You indicate that the board has already released some information to the requestor. You claim that portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.130 and 552.137 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. 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 board must withhold the Texas driver's license number marked in the submitted documents under section 552.130 of the Government Code. Section 552.137 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "an e-mail address of a member of the public that is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental body" unless the member of the public consents to its release or the e-mail address is of a type specifically excluded by subsection (c). See Gov't Code § 552.137(a)-(c). The e-mail addresses marked do not appear to be of a type specifically excluded by section 552.137(c). As such, these marked e-mail addresses must be withheld under section 552.137 unless their owners have affirmatively consented to their release. See Gov't Code § 552.137(b). Finally, 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. Id. Therefore, the board must withhold the social security number marked in the submitted documents under section 552.147.(2) In summary, the board must withhold all of the marked Texas driver's license information as well as the social security number in the submitted documents pursuant to sections 552.130 and 552.147. The board must also withhold the marked e-mail addresses pursuant to section 552.137 unless their owners have affirmatively consented to their release. The remainder of the 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. 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, Matthew T. McLain
c: Ms. Stephanie Young
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 |