January 4, 2008

Mr. Edwin J. Cook

Regional Services Attorney

Texas Health & Human Services Commission

P.O. Box 960

Edinburg, Texas 78540-0960

OR2008-00136

Dear Mr. Cook:

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# 298828.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (the "commission") received two requests from the same requestor for all information pertaining to a specified individual during a specified time period. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code and federal law. 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. Section 552.101 encompasses information made confidential by statutes such as sections 12.003 and 21.012 of the Human Resources Code. Section 12.003 provides in relevant part:

(a) Except for purposes directly connected with the administration of the department's assistance programs, it is an offense for a person to solicit, disclose, receive, or make use of, or to authorize, knowingly permit, participate in, or acquiesce in the use of the names of, or any information concerning, persons applying for or receiving assistance if the information is directly or indirectly derived from the records, papers, files, or communications of the department or acquired by employees of the department in the performance of their official duties.

Hum. Res. Code § 12.003(a) (emphasis added). In Open Records Decision No. 584 (1991), this office concluded that "[t]he inclusion of the words 'or any information' juxtaposed with the prohibition on disclosure of the names of the department's clients clearly expresses a legislative intent to encompass the broadest range of individual client information and not merely the clients' names and addresses." Id. at 3. Consequently, it is the specific information pertaining to individual clients, and not merely the clients' identities, that is made confidential under section 12.003. See Hum. Res. Code § 21.012(a) (requiring provision of safeguards that restrict use or disclosure of information concerning applicants for or recipients of assistance programs to purposes directly connected with administration of programs); Open Records Decision No. 166 (1977).

In this instance, you indicate that the submitted information relates to or could identify a recipient of commission benefits. You also inform us that the release of the information at issue would not be for a purpose directly connected with the administration of the programs to which the information pertains. Based on your representations and our review, we conclude that the submitted information is confidential under section 12.003 of the Human Resources Code and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ As our ruling for this information is dispositive, we need not address your remaining argument.

Finally, you ask this office to issue a previous determination that would permit the commission to withhold the same type of information as requested here relating to applicants for or recipients of commission assistance without the necessity of again requesting an attorney general decision under the Act. See Gov't Code § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001). We decline to do so at this time.

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,

Allan D. Meesey

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

ADM/eeg

Ref: ID# 298828

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Mr. Ronnie E. Pfeiffer

Ronnie E. Pfeiffer & Associates, P.C.

2825 Wilcrest, Suite 318

Houston, Texas 77042

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. The commission notes that the requestor included in his request copies of authorizations to release information signed by the individual whose information is at issue. However, the commission states the authorizations did not comply with the commission's requirements for release found in section 71.206 of title 40 of the Administrative Code.

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