April 2, 2008

Ms. Linda Rhodes

City Secretary

City of Lake Worth

3805 Adam Grubb

Lake Worth, Texas 76135-3509

OR2008-04375

Dear Ms. Rhodes:

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# 306198.

The Lake Worth Police Department (the "department") received a request for information relating to two incident numbers. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and have reviewed the information you submitted.

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 exception encompasses information that other statutes make confidential. Section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code states that except as provided by subsection (c), accident reports are privileged and confidential. See Transp. Code § 550.065(b). Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of an accident report to a person who provides two of the following three items of information: (1) the date of the accident; (2) the name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) the specific location of the accident. Id. § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, the Texas Department of Transportation or another governmental entity is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides the agency with two or more of the items of information specified by the statute. Id. The information submitted as Exhibit B contains an accident report that was completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See id. § 550.064 (officer's accident report). In this instance, the requestor has provided the department with two of the three specified items of information. Therefore, the department must release the accident report, which we have marked, pursuant to section 550.065(c)(4) of the Transportation Code.

You raise section 552.101 in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code, which provides in part:

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be:

(1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records;

(2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and

(3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapter B.

Fam. Code § 58.007(c). Section 58.007(c) is applicable to records of juvenile conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. See Act of June 2, 1997, 75^th Leg., R.S., ch. 1086, §§ 20, 55(a), 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4179, 4187, 4199; Open Records Decision No. 644 (1996). The juvenile must have been at least 10 years old and less than 17 years of age when the conduct occurred. See Fam. Code § 51.02(2) (defining "child" for purposes of title 3 of Family Code). Section 58.007(c) is not applicable to information that relates to a juvenile as a complainant, victim, witness, or other involved party and not as a suspect or offender. In this instance, the submitted information does not involve a juvenile suspect or offender. We therefore conclude that the department may not withhold any of the submitted information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code.

Section 552.101 also encompasses common-law privacy, which protects information that is highly intimate or embarrassing, such that its release would be highly objectionable to a person of ordinary sensibilities, and of no legitimate public interest. See Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). In Open Records Decision No. 169 (1977), this office concluded that under certain "special circumstances," privacy under section 552.101 will protect information that ordinarily would be subject to public disclosure. Id. at 6-7. Such "special circumstances" encompass a very narrow set of situations. Id. at 6. They do not include a desire for privacy or "a generalized and speculative fear of harassment or retribution." Id. They do include situations in which release of the information would likely cause someone to face "an imminent threat of physical danger." Id.

We determine whether a request for information presents such "special circumstances" on a case-by-case basis. Id. at 7. You are concerned that the release of certain information contained in the submitted documents might lead to retaliation. We find, however, that you have not established the existence of any special circumstances that would justify the withholding of any of the remaining information. We therefore conclude that the department may not withhold any of the remaining information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit or a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state. See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). We have marked Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information that the department must withhold under section 552.130. Because this exception protects personal privacy, the requestor has a right of access to his own Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information, and the department may not withhold that information from this requestor under section 552.130. See Gov't Code § 552.023(a); Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individual requests information concerning himself). ⁽¹⁾

In summary, the department must withhold the marked Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The rest of the submitted information must be released. ⁽²⁾

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,

James W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/ma

Ref: ID# 306198

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Mr. Michael Kinzig

7617 Westwind Drive

Fort Worth, Texas 76179

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Section 552.023(a) provides that "[a] person or a person's authorized representative has a special right of access, beyond the right of the general public, to information held by a governmental body that relates to the person and that is protected from public disclosure by laws intended to protect that person's privacy interests." Gov't Code § 552.023(a).

2. Should the department receive another request for these same records from a person who would not have a right of access to the requestor's private information, the department should resubmit these records and request another decision. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(a), .302.

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