 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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January 5, 2010 Ms. Sue Korioth Assistant Criminal District Attorney Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney 110 West Mulberry Street Kaufman, Texas 75142 OR2010-00151 Dear Ms. Korioth: 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# 369657. The Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney (the "district attorney") received a request for information pertaining to a specified incident. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108, 552.130, and 552.147 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Initially, we note the submitted information contains two CRB-3 accident report forms completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). Section 550.065(b) states that, except as provided by subsection (c), accident reports are privileged and confidential. Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of accident reports to a person who provides two of the following three pieces of information: (1) the date of the accident; (2) the name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) the specific location of the accident. Id. § 550.065(c)(4). In this instance, the requestor has provided the district attorney with two of the three requisite pieces of information specified by the statute. Accordingly, the district attorney must release the submitted CRB-3 accident reports which we have marked in their entirety pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. We note that although you have marked portions of this information under section 552.130 of the Government Code, the exceptions found in the Act generally do not apply to information that is made public by other statutes. See Open Records Decision No. 525 (1989) (statutory predecessor). You claim the remaining information is excepted under sections 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code. Section 552.108(a)(2) excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime only in relation to an investigation that did not result in convection or deferred adjudication[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(2). Section 552.108(a)(2) is applicable only if the information at issue relates to a concluded criminal case that did not result in a conviction or a deferred adjudication. A governmental body that claims an exception to disclosure under section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why this exception is applicable to the information the governmental body seeks to withhold. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You explain that a grand jury no-billed this case prior to the district attorney's receipt of the current request and the investigation is closed. Thus, we find the submitted information pertains to a concluded criminal investigation conducted by the district attorney that did not result in a conviction or deferred adjudication. Accordingly, we agree section 552.108(a)(2) is applicable to the submitted information. However, section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic information held to be public in Houston Chronicle Publishing Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976), and includes a detailed description of the offense. The district attorney must release basic information even if it does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. See Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). Thus, with the exception of basic information, the district attorney may withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code. Basic information, in this instance, contains the arrestee's social security number, which is excepted from disclosure under section 552.147 of the Government Code. This section provides that "[t]he social security number of a living person is excepted from" required public disclosure under the Act. (1) Gov't Code § 552.147(a). Accordingly, the district attorney may withhold the arrestee's social security number from the basic information under section 552.147 of the Government Code. In summary, the district attorney must release the CRB-3 crash reports in the submitted information pursuant to section 550.065 of the Transportation Code. With the exception of basic information, the district may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code. The district attorney may withhold the social security number we have marked under section 552.147 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, toll free, at (888) 672-6787. Sincerely, James McGuire Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division JM/jb Ref: ID# 369657 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures) c: Jaime Ibson 7049 Quatermile Dallas, Texas 75248 (w/o enclosures)
1. 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.
As our ruling is dispositive, we do not address your remaining argument against disclosure. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |