January 14, 2009

Ms. Susan K. Bohn

General Counsel

Lake Travis Independent School District

3322 Ranch Road 620 South

Austin, Texas 78738

OR2009-00590

Dear Ms. Bohn:

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# 332225 (LTISD# 101608-R038/DL 3474, 101608-R041/DL 3477, 101608-R043/DL 3479).

The Lake Travis Independent School District (the "district") received three requests from the same requestor for (1) all correspondence between the district and state legislators between March 24, 2007 to the date of the request; (2) information related to the district's health advisory council; and (3) all district vehicle related accident reports for the 2007-2008 school year. You state some of the submitted information has been redacted pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA"), section 1232g of title 20 of the United States Code. ⁽¹⁾ You state you are releasing some of the requested information to the requestor. You claim that portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.117, 552.130, 552.136, and 552.137 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." ⁽²⁾ Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information made confidential by statute. 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. Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of accident reports 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. See 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 submitted information includes Texas peace officer's crash reports that were completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See id. §§ 550.061 (operator's accident report), .064 (officer's accident report). In this instance, the requestor has not provided the district with two of the three specified items of information. Therefore, the district must withhold the submitted crash reports under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code.

You state that portions of the remaining information are excepted from disclosure under section 552.117 of the Government Code. Section 552.117 excepts from public disclosure the present and former home addresses and telephone numbers, social security numbers, and family member information of current or former officials or employees of a governmental body who request that this information be kept confidential under section 552.024. Gov't Code § 552.117(a)(1). Section 552.117 also encompasses personal cellular telephone numbers, provided that the cellular phone service is paid for by the employee with his or her own funds. See Open Records Decision No. 506 at 5-6 (1988) (section 552.117 not applicable to cellular mobile numbers paid for by governmental body and intended for official use). Whether a particular piece of information is protected by section 552.117(a)(1) must be determined at the time the request for it is made. See Open Records Decision No. 530 at 5 (1989). You state that the district employees at issue timely elected confidentiality pursuant to section 552.024 of the Government Code. Therefore, the district must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.117(a)(1) of the Government Code.

You assert that some of the remaining information is excepted under section 552.130 of the Government Code, which provides that information relating to a motor vehicle operator's license, driver's license, motor vehicle title, or registration issued by a Texas agency is excepted from public release. Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1), (2). We note that section 552.130 only applies to Texas motor vehicle record information. Accordingly, except for the information we have marked for release, the district must withhold the Texas motor vehicle record information you have marked under section 552.130.

Section 552.136 states that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a credit card, debit card, charge card, or access device number that is collected, assembled, or maintained by or for a governmental body is confidential." Id. § 552.136(b). The district must withhold the insurance policy numbers you have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code.

Section 552.137 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "an e-mail address of a member of the public that is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental body" unless the member of the public consents to its release or the e-mail address is of a type specifically excluded by subsection (c). Id. § 552.137(a)-(c). The e-mail addresses you have marked are not a type specifically excluded by section 552.137(c) of the Government Code. You state the owners of the e-mail addresses at issue have not consented to public disclosure. Therefore, the district must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.137.

In summary, the district must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code. The district must withhold the information you have marked under sections 552.117, 552.136, and 552.137 of the Government Code. Except for the information we have marked for release, the district must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information must be released.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information 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 information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General at (512) 475-2497.

Sincerely,

Chris Schulz

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CS/cc

Ref: ID# 332225

Enc. Submitted documents

cc: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. The United States Department of Education Family Policy Compliance Office (the "DOE") has informed this office that FERPA does not permit state and local educational authorities to disclose to this office, without parental consent, unredacted, personally identifiable information contained in education records for the purpose of our review in the open records ruling process under the Act. The DOE has determined that FERPA determinations must be made by the educational authority in possession of the education records. We have posted a copy of the letter from the DOE to this office on the Attorney General's website: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/20060725usdoe.pdf.

2. The Office of the Attorney General will raise a mandatory exception like section 552.101 on behalf of a governmental body, but ordinarily will not raise other exceptions. See Open Records Decision Nos. 481(1987), 480 (1987), 470 (1987).

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