November 19, 2007

Ms. Lesli R. Barber
Staff Attorney - Administrative Law Section
Legal Services Division
Texas General Land Office
P.O. Box 12873
Austin, Texas 78711-2873

OR2007-15222

Dear Ms. Barber:

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# 295251.

The Texas General Land Office (the "GLO") received a request for information regarding a specified tract of land in Lee County. You state that you will provide some of the requested information to the requestor. You claim that the submitted information is 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 made confidential by other statutes. You raise section 552.101 in conjunction with section 11.086(a) of the Natural Resources Code. The Eightieth Legislature amended section 11.086(a) to exempt from public disclosure certain information involving transactions of the School Land Board, the Veteran's Land Board, the GLO, or the commissioner of the GLO. See Act of May 17, 2007, 80^th Leg., R.S., ch. 381, § 1, 2007 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 685 (to be codified as an amendment to Nat. Res. Code § 11.086(a) (effective June 15, 2007). Section 11.086(a), as amended, provides in relevant part as follows:

Information relating to the development, location, purchase price, or sale price of real property developed, purchased, or sold by or for the School Land Board, Veterans' Land Board, land office, or commissioner under authority granted by this code, including a contract provision related to the development, purchase, or sale of the property, is confidential and exempt from disclosure under [the Act], until all deeds for the property that are applicable to the transaction or series of related transactions are executed and until all substantive performance or executory requirements of applicable contracts have been satisfied. Information that is confidential and exempted from disclosure under this subsection includes an appraisal, completed report, evaluation, or investigation conducted for the purpose of locating or determining the purchase or sale price of the property, or any report prepared in anticipation of developing, purchasing, or selling real property.

Act of May 21, 2001, 77^th Leg., R.S., ch. 1317, § 1, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 3233, amended by Act of May 17, 2007, 80^th Leg., R.S., ch. 381, § 1, 2007 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 685. You indicate that the submitted information relates to the development, location, purchase price, or sale price of real property developed, purchased, or sold by or for the School Land Board, GLO, or commissioner under authority granted by the Natural Resources Code. You further state that the submitted information was prepared to determine the estimated market value of the property at issue, in anticipation of selling the property. You also inform this office that the property at issue has not sold as of this date, but rather "remains a Permanent School Fund land that is eligible for sale." Based on your representations and our review, we find that the submitted information is confidential under section 11.086(a) of the Natural Resources Code as amended and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government 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# 295251

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Mr. Frank McKinnis

527 West 32^nd Street

Houston, Texas 77018-8325

(w/o enclosures)

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