February 3, 2009

Ms. Valerie Coleman-Ferguson

Associate General Counsel

University of Houston System

Office of the General Counsel

311 E. Cullen Building

Houston, Texas 77204-2028

OR2009-01368

Dear Ms. Coleman-Ferguson:

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# 333919.

The University of Houston (the "university") received a request for all receipts "related to all investiture functions[.]" You state you are providing some of the information to the requestor. You claim that portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under section 552.136 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted representative sample of information. ⁽¹⁾

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." Gov't Code § 552.136. An access device number is one that may be used to (1) obtain money, goods, services, or another thing of value; or (2) initiate a transfer of funds other than a transfer originated solely by paper instrument. Id. Upon review of the information you have marked, we find that the university must withhold some of the information, which we have marked, under section 552.136 of the Government Code. For the remaining information you have marked, you have failed to demonstrate this information constitutes access device numbers used to obtain money, goods, services, or another thing of value or initiate a transfer of funds other than a transfer originated solely by paper instrument. We therefore conclude the university may not withhold the remaining information you have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code. As you raise no further arguments against disclosure, 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# 333919

Enc. Submitted documents

cc: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We assume that the representative sample of records submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent that those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.

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