April 7, 2008

Mr. Mario R. Gutierrez

General Counsel & Public Information Officer

Alamo Area Council of Governments

8700 Tesoro, Suite 700

San Antonio, Texas 78217

OR2008-04604

Dear Mr. Gutierrez:

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# 306901.

The Alamo Area Council of Governments (the "council") received a request for the information relied upon by the council to "disallow invoices for the payment of Ryan White Part A Supplemental and Part A (MAI) funds to Mujeres Unidas Contra [E]l S[ida]" during a specified fiscal year. Although you take no position with respect to the public availability of the requested information, you indicate that its release may implicate the proprietary interests of Mujeres Unidas Contra El Sida ("Mujeres"). Accordingly, you have notified Mujeres of the request and of its opportunity to submit arguments to this office. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (statutory predecessor to section 552.305 allows a governmental body to rely on an interested third party to raise and explain the applicability of the exception to disclosure in certain circumstances). We have reviewed the submitted information.

Initially, we note that an interested third party is allowed ten business days after the date of its receipt of the governmental body's notice under section 552.305(d) to submit its reasons, if any, as to why requested information relating to it should be withheld from disclosure. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d)(2)(B). As of the date of this letter, Mujeres has not submitted to this office any reasons explaining why the requested information should not be released. Thus, we have no basis for concluding that any portion of the submitted information constitutes proprietary information of Mujeres, and the council may not withhold any portion of the submitted information on that basis. See Open Records Decision Nos. 661 at 5-6 (1999) (to prevent disclosure of commercial or financial information, party must show by specific factual evidence, not conclusory or generalized allegations, that release of requested information would cause that party substantial competitive harm), 552 at 5 (1990) (party must establish prima facie case that information is trade secret), 542 at 3 (1990).

W also note that portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under section 552.137 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ Section 552.137 provides that "an e-mail address of a member of the public that is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental body is confidential and not subject to disclosure under [the Act]," unless the owner of the e-mail address has affirmatively consented to its public disclosure. Gov't Code § 552.137(a)-(b). The types of e-mail addresses listed in section 552.137(c) may not be withheld under this exception. See id. §552.137(c). You do not state that the owners of the e-mail addresses have consented to their release. Therefore, based on our review, the council must withhold the e-mail addresses we have marked under section 552.137 of the Government Code. As no arguments against disclosure are raised for the remaining information, it 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,

Melanie J. Villars

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

MJV/jh

Ref: ID# 306901

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Ms. Yolanda Rodriguez-Escobar

Mujeres Unidas Contra El Sida

307 East Evergreen

San Antonio, Texas 78212

(w/o enclosures)

Mr. Jose L. Perales

201 West Poplar

San Antonio, Texas 78212

(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. Open Records Decision Nos. 481 (1987), 480 (1987), 470 (1987).

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