 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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October 16, 2007 Ms. Kelly E. Pagan OR2007-13438 Dear Ms. Pagan: 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# 293259. The City of Fort Worth (the "city") received a request for offense reports and 9-1-1 call reports pertaining to a specified address from January 2005 to April 2005. You state that the city will withhold the Texas motor vehicle record information pursuant to previous determinations issued to the city in Open Records Letter Nos. 2006-14726 (2006) and 2007-00198 (2007). See Gov't Code § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 at 7-8 (2001). You claim that portions of the requested information are 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." Gov't Code § 552.101. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes. Juvenile law enforcement records relating to conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 are confidential under section 58.007. Section 58.007(c) reads as follows: Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be: (1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records; (2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and (3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapter B. Fam. Code § 58.007. For purposes of section 58.007, "child" means a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age at the time of the reported conduct. See id. § 51.02(2); see also id. §§ 58.007, 51.03 (defining "delinquent conduct" and "conduct indicating a need for supervision" for purposes of section 58.007 ). Upon review, we find that Exhibit C-1 involves juveniles engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct in need of supervision. It does not appear that any of the exceptions in section 58.007 of the Family Code apply. Therefore, we find that the information contained in Exhibit C-1 is confidential pursuant to section 58.007(c) of the Family Code and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code. Section 552.101 also encompasses chapter 772 of the Health and Safety Code, which authorizes the development of local emergency communication districts. Sections 772.118, 772.218, and 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code apply only to an emergency 9-1-1 district established in accordance with chapter 772. See Open Records Decision No. 649 (1996). These statutes make confidential the originating telephone numbers and addresses of 9-1-1 callers that are furnished by a service supplier. Id. at 2. We understand you to assert that the city is part of an emergency communication district that was established under section 772.218, which provides in part: (a) As part of a computerized 9-1-1 service, a service supplier shall furnish for each call the telephone number of the subscriber and the address associated with the number. . . . (c) Information furnished under this section is confidential and is not available for public inspection. Health & Safety Code § 772.218(a), (c). (1) Based on your representations and our review, we determine that the originating telephone numbers and addresses of the 9-1-1 callers we have marked in the remaining information are confidential under section 772.218 of the Health and Safety Code. Therefore, the city must withhold this information under section 552.101 of the Government Code. Finally, you claim that portions of the remaining information are excepted from disclosure under common-law privacy. Section 552.101 also encompasses common-law privacy. Common-law privacy protects information if (1) the information contains highly intimate and embarrassing facts the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) the information is not of legitimate concern to the public. Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). The type of information considered intimate and embarrassing by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating to sexual assault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children, psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs. See id. at 683. Upon review, we find that no portion of the remaining information is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public concern. Therefore, the city may not withhold any portion of the remaining information pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. In summary, the city must withhold Exhibit C-1 under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code. The city also must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 772.218 of the Health and Safety Code. 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, Melanie J. Villars Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division MJV/jb Ref: ID# 293259 Enc. Submitted documents c: Ms. Tabitha Williams 3048 Bedford Road, #506 Bedford, Texas 76021 (w/o enclosures)
1. Although you cite to section 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code in your comments to this office,
we understand you to assert that section 772.218 is applicable in this instance. As you acknowledge,
subchapter C of chapter 772 governs counties with populations of more than 860,000. See Health & Safety
Code § 772.204. Section 772.318 is located in subchapter D of chapter 772, which governs counties with
populations of more than 20,000. See id. § 772.304. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |