 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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January 27, 2006 Ms. Veronica Ocañas
OR2006-00938 Dear Ms. Ocañas: 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# 241367. The City of Corpus Christi (the "city") received a request for video recordings pertaining to the arrest of a named individual. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.119 of the Government Code.(1) We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. We have also received and considered comments submitted by the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.304 (interested party may submit comments stating why information should or should not be released). Section 552.119 of the Government Code provides as follows: (a) A photograph that depicts a peace officer as defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, the release of which would endanger the life or physical safety of the officer, is excepted from [required public disclosure] unless: (1) the officer is under indictment or charged with an offense by information; (2) the officer is a party in a civil service hearing or a case in arbitration; or (3) the photograph is introduced as evidence in a judicial proceeding. (b) A photograph excepted from disclosure under Subsection (a) may be made public only if the peace officer gives written consent to the disclosure. Gov't Code § 552.119.(2) Under section 552.119, a governmental body must demonstrate, if the documents do not demonstrate on their face, that release of the photograph would endanger the life or physical safety of a peace officer. Furthermore, a photograph of a peace officer cannot be withheld under section 552.119 if (1) the officer is under indictment or charged with an offense by information; (2) the officer is a party in a civil service hearing or a case in arbitration; (3) the photograph is introduced as evidence in a judicial proceeding; or (4) the officer gives written consent to the disclosure. In this instance, you have not demonstrated, nor is it apparent from our review of the submitted information, that release of the images of peace officers contained in the submitted videos would endanger the life or physical safety of any of the peace officers. We therefore determine that the city may not withhold the submitted videos on the basis of section 552.119 of the Government Code. We note, however, that portions of the submitted videos contain Texas license plate numbers. Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information that relates to a driver's license or motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state.(3) Gov't Code § 552.130. Accordingly, the city must withhold the Texas license plate numbers in the submitted video pursuant to section 552.130. We note, however, that if the city lacks the technical capability to redact the information that is subject to section 552.130 in the videos recordings, it must withhold these portions of the videos in their entireties. See Open Records Decision No. 364 (1983). The remaining submitted information must be released to the requestor. 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 ten 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 ten calendar days of the date of this ruling. Sincerely, Robert B. Rapfogel
c: Mr. Scott M. Ellison
Footnotes 1. We note that you raise section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 552.119. Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." However, section 552.101 does not encompass other exceptions found in the Act. 2. As amended by Act of April 22, 2005, 79th Leg., R.S., S.B. 148, § 1 (effective May 3, 2005). 3. The Office of the Attorney General will raise a mandatory exception like section 552.130 on behalf of a governmental body, but ordinarily will not raise other exceptions. See Open Records Decision Nos. 481 (1987), 480 (1987), 470 (1987). POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB:WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |