 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
 |
March 26, 2007 Mr. Denis C. McElroy OR2007-03299 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# 277614. The Fort Worth Police Department (the "department") received a request for information relating to a pedestrian accident. You state that the department does not maintain some of the requested information. (1) You state that most of the responsive information is being released. You claim that the remaining information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and have reviewed the information you submitted. Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information that other statutes make confidential. Chapter 772 of the Health and Safety Code authorizes the development of local emergency communications districts. Sections 772.118, 772.218 and 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code are applicable to emergency 911 districts established in accordance with chapter 772. See Open Records Decision No. 649 (1996). These sections make the originating telephone numbers and addresses of 911 callers that are furnished by a 911 service provider confidential. Id. at 2. Section 772.118 applies to an emergency communications district for a county with a population of more than two million. Section 772.218 applies to an emergency communications district for a county with a population of more than 860,000. Section 772.318 applies to an emergency communications district for a county with a population of more than 20,000. You state that the City of Fort Worth is part of an emergency communications district established under section 772.218. You explain that the highlighted telephone number contained in the submitted information was furnished by a 911 service provider. Based on your representations, we conclude that the department must withhold that telephone number under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 772.218 of the Health and Safety Code. 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, James W. Morris, III Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division JWM/jb Ref: ID# 277614 Enc: Submitted documents c: Ms. Debra Oprea-Wright Law Offices of John David Hart 201 Main Street Suite 1720 Fort Worth, Texas 76102 (w/o enclosures)
1. We note that the Act does not require a governmental body to release information that did not exist
when it received a request or create responsive information. See Econ. Opportunities Dev. Corp. v.
Bustamante, 562 S.W.2d 266 (Tex. Civ. App. - San Antonio 1978, writ dism'd); Open Records Decision
Nos. 605 at 2 (1992), 555 at 1 (1990), 452 at 3 (1986), 362 at 2 (1983). POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |