 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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October 16, 2007 Ms. Margo Kaiser OR2007-13529 Dear Ms. Kaiser: 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# 291725. The Texas Workforce Commission (the "commission") received a request for copies of all "H2B" visa applications and employer support documents submitted by Baystone Contractors, L.L.C. and H & W Welding Services. (1) You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. You also believe that the requested information maybe excepted from disclosure under sections 552.110, 552.113, and 552.131 of the Government Code, but take no position with respect to the applicability of these exceptions. Instead, pursuant to section 552.305 of the Government Code, you have notified Baystone Contractors, L.L.C. of the request and of the company's right to submit arguments to this office as to why the information should not be released. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); see also Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (determining that statutory predecessor to section 552.305 permits governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exception to disclosure under Act in certain circumstances). We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted representative sample of information. (2) Initially, we note that you have only submitted responsive information regarding Baystone Contractors, L.L.C. To the extent that any additional responsive information existed on the date of this request and was not submitted for our review, we assume it has been released. If not, you must do so at this time. See Gov't Code §§ 552.006, .301, .302; see also Open Records Decision No. 664 (2000) (noting that if governmental body concludes that no exceptions apply to requested information, it must release information as soon as possible). 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. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes. Section 6103 of title 26 of the United States Code makes federal tax return information confidential. The term "return information" includes "the nature, source, or amount of income" of a taxpayer. See 26 U.S.C. § 6103(b)(2). Upon review, we find that the submitted tax return information must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 6103(a) of title 26 of the United States 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, Allan D. Meesey Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division ADM/eeg Ref: ID# 291725 Enc. Submitted documents c: Mr. Jerry Jordan News Editor The Examiner Newspaper c/o Ms. Margo Kaiser 101 East 15th Street Austin, Texas 78778-0001 (w/o enclosures) Footnotes1. You inform us that the commission received a clarification of the request from the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.222(b) (stating that if information requested is unclear to governmental body or if large amount of information has been requested, governmental body may ask requestor to clarify or narrow request, but may not inquire into purpose for which information will be used). 2. 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 |