 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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August 20, 2007 Mr. Dewey E. Helmcamp III, J.D. OR2007-10543 Dear Mr. Helmcamp: 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# 286712. The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (the "board") received a request for "a log of complainants to whom the [b]oard sends a complaint form" from the last five years. You claim that 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 representative sample of information. (1) 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 another statute makes confidential. You claim that the requested information is confidential under section 801.207 of the Occupations Code. Section 801.207(b) provides that "[a]n investigation record of the board, including a record relating to a complaint that is found to be groundless, is confidential." Occ. Code § 801.207(b); see also 22 T.A.C. § 575.27 (complaints - receipt, investigation and disposition). The submitted information consists of the names and addresses of individuals who have requested a complaint form from the board. You do not inform our office which of these individuals have actually filed a complaint, or whether any of the filed complaints have become part of an investigative file. Accordingly, we must rule conditionally. To the extent that the individuals whose names and addresses are at issue have filed a complaint with the board that resulted in an investigation, their information is subject to section 801.207 of the Occupations Code and must be withheld from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. However, to the extent these individuals have not filed a complaint with the board, or have filed a complaint that did not result in an investigation, their information is not subject to section 801.207 of the Occupations Code and 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, Loan Hong-Turney Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division LH/jb Ref: ID# 286712 Enc. Submitted documents c: Mr. Greg Munson c/o Dewey E. Helmcamp III, J.D. Executive Director Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners 333 Guadalupe, Suite 3-810 Austin, Texas 78701-3942 (w/o enclosures)
1. 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. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |