January 2, 2008

Ms. Maria Miller

Legal Assistant

Dallas County Community College

701 Elm Street

Dallas, Texas 75202-3299

OR2008-00018

Dear Ms. Miller:

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# 298539.

The Dallas County Community College District (the "district") received two requests from different requestors for a specified incident report. You state that some of the requested information will be provided to the requestors. We understand you to claim that some of the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108, 552.130, and 552.147 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions 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 the doctrine of common-law privacy. ⁽¹⁾ Common-law privacy protects information if (1) the information contains highly intimate or 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). This office has found that some kinds of medical information or information indicating disabilities or specific illnesses are excepted from required public disclosure under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 470 (1987) (illness from severe emotional and job-related stress), 455 (1987) (prescription drugs, illnesses, operations, and physical handicaps).

Upon review, we find that the district must withhold the information we have marked under common-law privacy. We note, however, that the second requestor is the individual to whom this private information relates. Therefore, as the individual to whom the private information relates, the second requestor has a right of access to her own private information and the district must release it to her. See Gov't Code § 552.023; Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individual requests information concerning herself).

Section 552.108(a) of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if: (1) release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Generally, a governmental body claiming section 552.108 of the Government Code must reasonably explain how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). Upon review, we find that you have failed to explain how release of the witness information you have marked would interfere with a particular criminal investigation. Thus, you have not established that section 552.108(a)(1) applies to the information you have marked, and therefore, none of the information at issue may be withheld under this exception.

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[,] a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state[, or ] a personal identification document[.]" Gov't Code § 552.130. We have marked the information that must be withheld under section 552.130. We note that the second requestor has a right of access to her own personal identification information, and this information may not be withheld from her under section 552.130. See id. § 552.023(b).

Section 552.147 of the Government Code provides that "[t]he social security number of a living person is excepted from" required public disclosure under the Act. Id. § 552.147. Accordingly, the district may withhold the social security numbers you have marked. However, section 552.147 excepts information from disclosure in order to protect an individual's privacy. Therefore, the second requestor has a special right of access to her own social security number, and it may not be withheld from her under section 552.147. See id. § 552.023.

In summary, the information we have marked must generally be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy and section 552.130 of the Government Code. The district also must generally withhold the submitted social security numbers under section 552.147 of the Government Code. However, the second requestor has a special right of access to her own private information, personal identification information, and social security number. The remaining submitted 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 file suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full benefit of such a challenge, 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 challenge 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,

Jennifer Luttrall

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JL/eeg

Ref: ID# 298539

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Ms. Carmen Tyson

8912 Shiloh Road

Dallas, Texas 75228

(w/o enclosures)

Ms. Patricia A. Asaid

9940 Forest Lane #3102

Dallas, Texas 75243

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. The Office of the Attorney General will raise a mandatory exception on behalf of a governmental body, but ordinarily will not raise other exceptions. See Open Records Decision Nos. 481 (1987), 480 (1987), 470 (1987).

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