January 25, 2010

Ms. Claire Yancey

Assistant District Attorney

Denton County Criminal District Attorney's Office

Post Office Box 2850

Denton, Texas 76202

OR2010-01052

Dear Ms. Yancey:

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# 368036.

The Denton County Purchasing Department (the "department") received a request for the current contract for security services and winning proposal. You claim that a portion of the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. You explain that the submitted information may contain a third party's proprietary information subject to exception under the Act. Accordingly, you have notified Ruiz Protective Service, Incorporated ("Ruiz") of this request for information and of its right to submit arguments to this office explaining why the submitted information should not be released. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (statutory predecessor to section 552.305 permitted governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exception to disclosure under certain circumstances). We have considered the exception you claim, and reviewed the submitted information.

We note the requested information was the subject of a previous request for information, in response to which this office issued Open Records Letter No. 2010-00014 (2010). In Open Records Letter No. 2010-00014, we ruled that the department must withhold a portion of the requested information under section 552.136, and release the remaining information. As we have no indication the law, facts, and circumstances on which the prior ruling was based have changed, the department may continue to rely on that ruling as a previous determination and withhold or release the requested information in accordance with Open Records Letter No. 2010-00014. See Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (so long as law, facts, and circumstances on which prior ruling was based have not changed, first type of previous determination exists where requested information is precisely same information as was addressed in prior attorney general ruling, ruling is addressed to same governmental body, and ruling concludes that information is or is not excepted from disclosure). As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your argument against disclosure.

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,

Jennifer Burnett

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JB/dls

Ref: ID# 368036

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Mr. Rob Minnis

Ruiz Protective Service, Inc.

10939 Shady Trail

Dallas, Texas 75220

(w/o enclosures)

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