February 22, 2008

Mr. Phillip D. Fraissinet

Bracewell & Giuliani, L.L.P.
711 Louisiana Street, Suite 2300
Houston, Texas 77002-2770

OR2008-02407

Dear Mr. Fraissinet:

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# 303013.

The Corpus Christi Independent School District (the "district"), which you represent, received a request for "[a]ll records and documents related to any video surveillance" in a specified high school during the Fall 2006 term, as well as all information pertaining to the "purchase or installation of the video system or any parts of the video system" for the same specified school and time period. You state you will provide the requestor with a portion of the requested information. You claim that the remaining requested 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.

Initially, we note that some of the submitted information, which we have marked, is not responsive to the instant request for information. The request seeks information pertaining to the video surveillance system at a specified high school during a specific time period. Accordingly, any information that does not pertain to the video surveillance system within the specified time frame is not responsive to the current request. The district need not release non-responsive information in response to this request, and this ruling will not address that information. See Econ. Opportunities Dev. Corp. v. Bustamante, 562 S.W.2d 266 (Tex. Civ. App.--San Antonio1978, writ dism'd).

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 exception encompasses information that another statute makes confidential. You raise section 552.101 in conjunction with section 418.182 of the Government Code. Sections 418.176 through 418.182 were added to chapter 418 of the Government Code as part of the Texas Homeland Security Act. These provisions make certain information related to terrorism confidential. Section 418.182 provides in part:

(a) [I]nformation, including access codes and passwords, in the possession of a governmental entity that relates to the specifications, operating procedures, or location of a security system used to protect public or private property from an act of terrorism or related criminal activity is confidential.

Gov't Code § 418.182. The fact that information may relate to a governmental body's security measures does not make the information per se confidential under the Texas Homeland Security Act. See Open Records Decision No. 649 at 3 (1996) (language of confidentiality provision controls scope of its protection). Furthermore, the mere recitation of a statute's key terms is not sufficient to demonstrate the applicability of the claimed provision. As with any exception to disclosure, a claim under section 418.182 must be accompanied by an adequate explanation of how the responsive records fall within the scope of the claimed provision. See Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(A) (governmental body must explain how claimed exception to disclosure applies).

You assert that release of the remaining requested information would reveal the location, specifications, and operating procedures of various security systems used to protect public property and public employees from an act of terrorism or related criminal activity. You state that release of the remaining requested information would negate the system's security and investigative value. Having considered your arguments and reviewed the information at issue, we conclude that the information at issue is confidential under section 418.182 of the Government Code and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾

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# 303013

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Mr. Charles C. Webb, Jr.

Webb, Cason & Covich, P.C.

710 North Mesquite Street

Corpus Christi, Texas 78401

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining argument against disclosure.

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer