January 8, 2009

Mr. Robb Decker

Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schulze, & Aldridge, P.C.

P.O. Box 460606

San Antonio, Texas 78246

OR2009-00305

Dear Mr. Decker:

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# 332444.

The Northside Independent School District (the "district"), which you represent, received a request for information related to "expenses paid by the taxpayers to [the district superintendent] for the period of August 1, 2007, 12:00 a.m., to August 31, 2007, 11:59 p.m." You claim that a portion of the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.117 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

You seek to withhold the home address of a district employee under section 552.117 of the Government Code. Section 552.117(a)(1) excepts from disclosure the home address, home telephone number, personal cellular telephone number, social security numbers, and family member information of a current or former official or employee of a governmental body who requests that this information be kept confidential under section 552.024 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ Whether a particular piece of information is protected by section 552.117 must be determined at the time the request for it is made. See Open Records Decision No. 530 at 5 (1989). Therefore, the district may only withhold information under section 552.117(a)(1) on behalf of a current or former official or employee who made a request for confidentiality under section 552.024 prior to the date on which the request for this information was made. Accordingly, if the current or former employee whose information is at issue timely elected to keep his personal information confidential, the district must withhold the address you have marked under section 552.117(a)(1) of the Government Code. The district may not withhold this information under section 552.117(a)(1) if the employee did not make a timely election to keep the information confidential. The remaining submitted information must be released to the requestor.

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). If the governmental body does not file suit over 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,

Cindy Nettles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CN/jb

Ref: ID# 332444

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. See Open Records Decision No. 506 at 5-7 (1988) (statutory predecessor to section 552.117 not applicable to cell phone numbers provided and paid for by governmental body and intended for official use).

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