 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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January 30, 2007 Mr. Nathan C. Barrow OR2007-01092 Dear Mr. Barrow: 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# 274307. The City of Fort Worth (the "city") received a request for names and addresses of customers for specified water services. You claim that some of the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." This section encompasses information protected by other statutes. Section 182.052 of the Utilities Code provides in relevant part the following: (a) Except as provided by Section 182.054, a government-operated utility may not disclose personal information in a customer's account record, or any information relating to the volume or units of utility usage or the amounts billed to or collected from the individual for utility usage, if the customer requests that the government-operated utility keep the information confidential. However, a government-operated utility may disclose information related to the customer's volume or units of utility usage or amounts billed to or collected from the individual for utility usage if the primary source of water for such utility was a sole-source designated aquifer. (b) A customer may request confidentiality by delivering to the government-operated utility an appropriately marked form provided under Subsection (c)(3) or any other written request for confidentiality. Until. Code § 182.052(a)-(b). Section 182.054 of the Utilities Code provides six exceptions to the disclosure prohibition found in section 182.052; however, you have provided no information to allow us to conclude that any of these exceptions apply in this case. See id. § 182.054. Water service is included in the scope of utility services covered by section 182.052. See id. § 182.051(3). "Personal information" under section 182.052(a) means an individual's address, telephone number, and social security number. Id. § 182.051(4). A customer's request for confidentiality must precede the utility's receipt of the request for information. Open Records Decision No. 625 at 6 (1994) (construing statutory predecessor). The information at issue consists of the names and addresses of utility customers. The names of customers are not included in the definition of personal information; therefore, the customer names in the submitted information are not confidential under section 182.052 of the Utilities Code. Id. § 182.051(4). You assert that the highlighted addresses belong to customers who have requested that their personal information be kept confidential. Accordingly, if these customers requested confidentiality under section 182.052(b) before the city received the request for information, we agree that the customer addresses you have highlighted are confidential under section 182.052 of the Utilities Code and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code. The city may not withhold this information under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 182.052 if the customers did not make timely elections of confidentiality under section 182.052(b). The city must release the remaining information, including all customer names, 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 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, James L. Coggeshall Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division JLC/vh Ref: ID# 274307 Enc. Submitted documents c: Mr. Mark Porter 6002 Feather Wind Drive Fort Worth, Texas 76135 (w/o enclosures)
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