March 31, 2009

Ms. Luz E. Sandoval-Walker

Assistant City Attorney

City of El Paso

2 Civic Center Plaza, 9^th Floor

El Paso, Texas 79901

OR2009-04194

Dear Ms. Sandoval-Walker:

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# 338539.

The El Paso Police Department (the "department") received a request for information pertaining to a specific case number. You claim that the submitted information is 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 of the Government Code 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 the doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information that (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. Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). The type of information considered intimate and embarrassing by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating to sexual assault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children, psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs. Id. at 683. Generally, only highly intimate information that implicates the privacy of an individual is withheld. However, in certain instances, where it is demonstrated that the requestor knows the identity of the individual involved, as well as the nature of certain incidents, the entire report must be withheld to protect the individual's privacy. Although you seek to withhold the submitted incident report in its entirety, you have not demonstrated, nor does it otherwise appear, that this is a situation where the entire report must be withheld on the basis of common-law privacy. Accordingly, the submitted report may not be withheld in its entirety under common-law privacy. However, we agree this report contains information that is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public interest. Accordingly, we have marked information that must be withheld under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. As you make no other arguments against disclosure, the remainder of the report must be released to the requestor.

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,

Christina Alvarado

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CA/cc

Ref: ID# 338539

Enc. Submitted documents

cc: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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