February 10, 2009

Mr. Christopher Gregg

Gregg & Gregg, P.C.

16055 Space Center Blvd., Suite 150

Houston, Texas 77062

OR2009-01743

Dear Mr. Gregg:

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# 334528.

The City of League City (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for a listing of all unclaimed funds held by the city that exceed $500, including the claimant's name and last known address. You claim that portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes. Section 182.052 of the Utilities Code provides in relevant part the following:

(a) Except as provided by Section 182.054, a government-operated utility may not disclose personal information in a customer's account record, or any information relating to the volume or units of utility usage or the amounts billed to or collected from the individual for utility usage, if the customer requests that the government-operated utility keep the information confidential. However, a government-operated utility may disclose information related to the customer's volume or units of utility usage or amounts billed to or collected from the individual for utility usage if the primary source of water for such utility was a sole-source designated aquifer.

(b) A customer may request confidentiality by delivering to the government-operated utility an appropriately marked form provided under Subsection (c)(3) or any other written request for confidentiality.

Util. Code § 182.052(a)-(b). "Personal information" under section 182.052(a) of the Utilities Code means an individual's address, telephone number, and social security number. Id. § 182.051(4); see also Open Records Decision No. 625 (1994) (construing statutory predecessor). Section 182.052 protects the personal information of natural persons only and not of artificial entities such as corporations, partnerships, or other business associations. Id. at 3-4. We note that a post office box number is not an address for purposes of section 182.052. Water service is included in the scope of utility services covered by section 182.052. Util. Code § 182.051(3). Section 182.054 of the Utilities Code provides six exceptions to the disclosure prohibition found in section 182.052. See id. § 182.054.

You state that the customers whose information is at issue timely requested confidentiality for their personal information under section 182.052. You do not indicate that any of the exceptions to confidentiality under section 182.054 apply in this instance. Therefore, the customers' addresses, which we have marked, are confidential under section 182.052 and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code.

You state that portions of the remaining information at issue are confidential under common-law privacy. Section 552.101 also encompasses common-law privacy and excepts from disclosure private facts about an individual. See Indus. Found., 540 S.W.2d 668. Information is excepted from required public disclosure by a common-law right of privacy if the information (1) contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) is not of legitimate concern to the public. Id. at 685. We note that common-law privacy protects the privacy interests of individuals, but not of corporations or other types of business organizations. See Open Records Decision Nos. 620 (1993) (corporation has no right to privacy), 192 (1978) (right to privacy is designed primarily to protect human feelings and sensibilities, rather than property, business, or other pecuniary interests); see also U. S. v. Morton Salt Co., 338 U.S. 632, 652 (1950); Rosen v. Matthews Constr. Co., 777 S.W.2d 434 (Tex. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1989), rev'd on other grounds, 796 S.W.2d 692 (Tex. 1990) (corporation has no right to privacy). In this instance, some of the remaining information at issue pertains to businesses and not to an individual. In addition, this office has found the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of members of the public are not excepted from required public disclosure under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision No. 455 (1987) (the home addresses and telephone numbers of private citizens are generally not protected under the Act's privacy exceptions). Accordingly, we find that the remaining information is not protected under the doctrine of common-law privacy. Therefore, the city may not withhold any portion of the remaining information under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. As you raise no further exceptions against disclosure, the remaining information must be released.

In summary, the city must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 182.052 of the Utilities 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# 334528

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cc: Requestor

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