January 20, 2010

Mr. Bryan McWilliams

Public Safety Legal Advisor

Assistant City Attorney

City of Amarillo

200 Southeast Third Avenue

Amarillo, Texas 79101-1514

OR2010-00877

Dear Mr. McWilliams:

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# 368406 (Reference # 09-1322).

The Amarillo Police Department (the "department") received a request for all documents, with the exception of the subpoenaed financial records, pertaining to case number 2009-51744. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

You assert that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code. Section 552.108(a)(2) excepts from disclosure information concerning an investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication. See Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(2). A governmental body claiming section 552.108(a)(2) must demonstrate that the requested information relates to a criminal investigation that concluded in a final result other than a conviction or deferred adjudication. See id. § 552.301(e) (governmental body must provide comments explaining why exceptions raised should apply to information requested). In this instance, you state the submitted incident report relates to a case that did not result in a conviction or deferred adjudication. However, you also state the submitted incident report pertains to a case that is inactive pending further information, and you do not inform us that this case has concluded. Based on your statements and our review of the submitted documents, we determine the department has failed to demonstrate that the submitted incident report relates to a concluded investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication. Accordingly, no part of the submitted incident report may be withheld under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure information that relates to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state. ⁽¹⁾ Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). Accordingly, the department must withhold the Texas driver's license numbers we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. As no further exceptions to disclosure are raised, the remaining information must be released to the requestor. ⁽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, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Sarah Casterline

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

SEC/eeg

Ref: ID# 368406

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note this office recently issued Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including Texas driver's license numbers under section 552.130 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

2. We note that the remaining information contains the requestor's personal e-mail address. The requestor has a right to her own e-mail address under section 552.137(b) of the Government Code. We further note this office recently issued Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including an e-mail address of a member of the public under section 552.137 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision. Accordingly, if the department receives another request that encompasses the requestor's e-mail address from an individual other than one with a right of access under section 552.023, the department is authorized to withhold the requestor's e-mail address under section 552.137 without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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