 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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February 11, 2008 Ms. Sharon Alexander Associate General Counsel Texas Department of Transportation 125 East 11th Street Austin, Texas 78701-2483 OR2008-01898 Dear Ms. Alexander: 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#301641. The Texas Department of Transportation (the "department") received a request for all records, reports, documents, and communications with the City of Austin regarding the Emmett Shelton Bridge over a ten year period. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.111 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted representative sample of information. (1) Initially, we note that the requested information contains Bridge Inspection Reports which are subject to section 552.022 of the Government Code. Section 552.022 enumerates categories of information that are not excepted from required disclosure unless they "are expressly confidential under other law." Gov't Code § 552.022. This section provides in pertinent part: (a) Without limiting the amount or kind of information that is public information under this chapter, the following categories of information are public information and not excepted from required disclosure under this chapter unless they are expressly confidential under other law: (1) a completed report, audit, evaluation, or investigation made of, for, or by a governmental body, except as provided by Section 552.108[.] Gov't Code § 552.022(a)(1). Therefore, the department may only withhold this information if it is confidential under other law or excepted from disclosure under section 552.108. Although you argue that the Bridge Inspection Reports are excepted under section 552.111 of the Government Code, this section is a discretionary exception and, as such, is not other law for purposes of section 552.022. See Open Records Decision No. 470 at 7 (1987) (statutory predecessor to section 552.111 may be waived). Therefore, the department may not withhold the completed Bridge Inspection Reports under section 552.111 of the Government Code. However, the department also contends that the requested information is confidential under section 409 of title 23 of the United States Code. Section 409 provides as follows: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data compiled or collected for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, or planning the safety enhancement of potential accident sites, hazardous roadway conditions, or railway-highway crossings, pursuant to sections 130, 144, and 148 of this title or for the purpose of developing any highway safety construction improvement project which may be implemented utilizing Federal-aid highway funds shall not be subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in a Federal or State court proceeding or considered for other purposes in any action for damages arising from any occurrence at a location mentioned or addressed in such reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data. 23 U.S.C. § 409. Federal courts have determined that section 409 excludes from evidence data compiled for purposes of highway and railroad crossing safety enhancement and construction for which a state receives federal funding, in order to facilitate candor in administrative evaluations of highway safety hazards and to prevent federally-required record-keeping from being used for purposes of private litigation. See Harrison v. Burlington N. R.R. Co., 965 F.2d 155, 160 (7th Cir. 1992); Robertson v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 954 F.2d 1433, 1435 (8th Cir. 1992). We agree that section 409 of title 23 of the United States Code is other law for purposes of section 552.022(a) of the Government Code. See In re City of Georgetown, 53 S.W.3d 328 (Tex. 2001); see also Pierce County v. Guillen, 123 S.Ct. 720 (2003) (upholding constitutionality of section 409, relied upon by county in denying request under state's Public Disclosure Act). You state that "[b]ridges, including bridges not located on the National Highway System or the state highway system, are always eligible for federal aid under 23 U.S.C. § 144 and therefore are federal-aid highways within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. § 409." You argue that section 409 of title 23 would protect the information at issue from discovery in civil litigation. Therefore, we conclude that section 409 of title 23 of the United States Code requires the department to withhold the completed Bridge Inspection Reports. We now address your section 552.111 claim for the remaining requested information. Section 552.111 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "an interagency or intraagency memorandum or letter that would not be available by law to a party in litigation with the agency." Gov't Code § 552.111. Section 552.111 encompasses information that is protected by civil discovery privileges. See Open Records Decision Nos. 647 at 3 (1996), 251 at 2-4 (1980). You claim that the remaining requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.111 as information that would be privileged from civil discovery pursuant to section 409 of title 23 of the United States Code. Thus, based on your representations and our review of the information, we conclude that the department may withhold the remaining information pursuant to section 552.111. In summary, the department must withhold the completed Bridge Inspection Reports under section 409 of title 23 of the United States Code. The department may withhold the remaining information under section 552.111 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 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, Nancy E. Griffiths Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division NEG/jb Ref: ID# 301641 Enc. Submitted documents c: Ms. Peggy Nelson Potts & Reilly, L.L.P. 401 West 15th Street, Suite 850 Austin, Texas 78701 (w/o enclosures)
1. 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 |