 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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April 25, 2007 Ms. Kathryn H. Davis OR2007-04689 Dear Ms. Davis: 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# 276631. The City of Killeen (the "city") received a request for travel expense requests and credit card bills for the city manager for the last two years, along with supporting documentation, as well as checks written to the city manager as a vendor in the last two years and e-mails between the city manager and others regarding tax preparation. You state that you have released some information to the requestor. You claim that the remaining requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.117, 552.130, 552.136 and 552.137 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted representative sample of information. (1) The Act applies to "public information," which is defined under section 552.002 as: information that is collected, assembled, or maintained under a law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business: (1) by a governmental body; or (2) for a governmental body and the governmental body owns the information or has a right of access to it. Gov't Code § 552.002; see also id. § 552.021. The requestor seeks, in part, e-mails between the city manager and others regarding tax preparation. The city states that this information, contained in Exhibits H and I, is not related to city business in any way. Upon review, we find that Exhibits H and I are not "public information" under the Act because they do not relate to the transaction of official city business. See id. § 552.002; see also Open Records Decision No. 635 at 4 (1995) (statutory predecessor not applicable to personal information unrelated to official business and created or maintained by state employee involving de minimis use of state resources). Rather, this information relates to the city manager's job as a certified public accountant. Accordingly, the city is not required to disclose the information in Exhibits H and I under the Act. (2) Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code §552.101. Section 552.101 encompasses the common law right of privacy, which protects information if it (1) contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) is not of legitimate concern to the public. Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). This office has found that financial information relating only to an individual ordinarily satisfies the first requirement of the test for common law privacy, but that there is a legitimate public interest in the essential facts about a financial transaction between an individual and a governmental body. See Open Records Decision Nos. 600 (1992) (finding personal financial information to include designation of beneficiary of employee's retirement benefits and optional insurance coverage; choice of particular insurance carrier; direct deposit authorization; and forms allowing employee to allocate pretax compensation to group insurance, health care, or dependent care), 545 at 4 (1990) (attorney general has found kinds of financial information not excepted from public disclosure by common-law privacy to generally be those regarding receipt of governmental funds or debts owed to governmental entities), 523 (1989) (information related to an individual's mortgage payments, assets, bills, and credit history is excepted from disclosure under the common law right to privacy). Exhibits E and F are not excepted from disclosure under common law privacy pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code because they pertain to transactions with the city. The city informs us that the city manager's contract with the city provides he be reimbursed for the expenses reflected in these exhibits. Section 552.117(a)(1) excepts from disclosure the home addresses and 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. Gov't Code §§ 552.024, .117(a)(1). Whether a particular piece of information is protected by section 552.117(a)(1) must be determined at the time the request for it is made. See Open Records Decision No. 530 at 5 (1989). You inform us, and provide documentation showing, that the employee at issue made a timely election for confidentiality under section 552.024. We therefore conclude that the city must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.117(a)(1). Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information that "relates to . . . a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state [or] a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state." Id. § 552.130. In accordance with section 552.130 of the Government Code, the city must withhold the Texas motor vehicle record information it has marked. Section 552.136 of the Government Code states that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a credit card, debit card, charge card, or access device number that is collected, assembled, or maintained by or for a governmental body is confidential." Gov't Code § 552.136. An access device number is one that may be used to "(1) obtain money, goods, services, or another thing of value; or (2) initiate a transfer of funds other than a transfer originated solely by paper instrument." Id. The city must withhold the credit card, bank account, insurance policy, and other access device numbers it has marked and we have marked under section 552.136. In summary, the city must withhold the marked personal information under section 552.117(a)(1). The city must withhold the Texas motor vehicle record information it has marked under section 552.130. The city must withhold the credit card, bank account, insurance policy, and other access device numbers marked under section 552.136. The remaining 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, Kara A. Batey Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division KAB/mcf Ref: ID# 276631 Enc. Submitted documents c: Mr. Christopher Heath 6700 American Plaza Waco, Texas 76712 (w/o enclosures) Footnotes1. We assume that the "representative sample" of records submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent that those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office. 2. As our ruling for this information is dispositive, we do not address your argument under section 552.137 of the Government Code.
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |