April 13, 2009

Mr. Les Moore

Police Legal Advisor

Irving Police Department

305 North O'Connor Road

Irving, Texas 75061

OR2009-04843

Dear Mr. Moore:

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# 339819 (Irving PI-09-209 and PI-09-210).

The City of Irving (the "city") received two requests from the same requestor for information related to a specified domestic violence incident . You claim that the requested 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 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 common-law right of privacy, which protects information if it (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 types 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. In addition, this office has found that the following types of information are excepted from required public disclosure under common-law privacy: some kinds of medical information or information indicating disabilities or specific illnesses, see Open Records Decision Nos. 470 (1987) (illness from severe emotional and job-related stress), 455 (1987) (prescription drugs, illnesses, operations, and physical handicaps); and identities of victims of sexual abuse, see Open Records Decision Nos. 440 (1986), 393 (1983), 339 (1982). This office has also found that information concerning domestic violence generally does not come within the scope of common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision No. 611 (1992) ("An assault by one family member on another is a crime, not a family matter normally considered private"). Upon review, we determine that the information we have marked is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public concern. Therefore, the marked information must be withheld under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. The remaining information, however, is not protected by common-law privacy and may not be withheld under section 552.101 on that basis.

We note some of the submitted information is subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code, which excepts from disclosure information that relates to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state or a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state. ⁽¹⁾ Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). The city must withhold the driver's license numbers we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, the city must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. The city must also withhold the information we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information must be released. ⁽²⁾

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,

Tamara Wilcox

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

TW/eeg

Ref: ID# 339819

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

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

2. We note that section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact a living person's social security number from public release without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office under the Act.

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