 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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February 5, 2007 Mr. Denis C. McElroy OR2007-01416 Dear Mr. McElroy: 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#270723. The City of Forth Worth (the "city") received a request, tracking number 631-07, for "[a]ll city employees' names, home addresses, home telephone numbers, home email addresses and work email addresses." You state that some of the responsive information will be released to the requestor, and that some information has been redacted pursuant to a previous determination issued by this office in Open Records Decision No. 670 (2001). (1) You further state that the city does not have information responsive to a portion of the request. (2) You claim that the home addresses and telephone numbers of certain employees are excepted from disclosure under section 552.117 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.117(a)(1) excepts from disclosure the home addresses and personal telephone numbers, social security numbers, and family member information of current or former officials or employees of a governmental body who request that this information be kept confidential under section 552.024 of the Government Code. See Gov't Code § 552.117(a)(1). We note, however, that a post office box number is not a "home address" for purposes of section 552.117. (3) Whether a particular piece of information is protected by section 552.117 of the Government Code must be determined at the time the request for it is made. See Open Records Decision No. 530 at 5 (1989). Therefore, the city may only withhold information under section 552.117 of the Government Code on behalf of current or former officials or employees who made a request for confidentiality under section 552.024 of the Government Code prior to the date on which the request for this information was made. The city states that some of the employees at issue have elected, prior to the city's receipt of the request for information, to keep personal information confidential. Accordingly, the city must withhold the home addresses and telephone numbers of those employees who timely elected to keep such information confidential pursuant to section 552.117(a)(1) of the Government Code. The remaining responsive 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, Holly R. Davis Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division HRD/krl Ref: ID# 270723 Enc. Submitted documents c: Mr Troy Redfern 405 Preston Oaks Drive Lewisville, Texas 75067 (w/o enclosures)
1. See Open Records Decision No. 670 at 6 (2001) (authorizing all governmental bodies that are subject
to chapter 552 of Government Code to withhold home addresses and telephone numbers, personal cellular
telephone numbers, personal pager numbers, social security numbers, and family member information of peace
officers without necessity of requesting attorney general decision under section 552.117(a)(2)); see also Gov't
Code § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (delineating circumstances under which attorney
general decision constitutes previous determination under section 552.301).
2. We note the Act does not require a governmental body to disclose information that did not exist when
the request for information was received. Econ. Opportunities Dev. Corp. v. Bustamante, 562 S.W.2d 266
(Tex.App.--San Antonio 1978, writ dism'd); Open Records Decision No. 452 at 3 (1986).
3. See Gov't Code § 552.117; Open Records Decision No. 622 at 4 (1994) (legislative history makes
clear that purpose of Gov't Code § 552.117 is to protect public employees from being harassed at home) (citing
House Committee on State Affairs, Bill Analysis, H.B. 1976, 69th Leg. (1985); Senate Committee on State
Affairs, Bill Analysis, H.B. 1976, 69th Leg. (1985)) (emphasis added); see also Open Records Decision
Nos. 658 at 4 (1998) (statutory confidentiality provision must be express and cannot be implied), 478 at 2
(1987) (language of confidentiality statute controls scope of protection), 465 at 4-5 (1987) (statute explicitly
required confidentiality).
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