 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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January 28, 2010 Ms. Yvette Aguilar Assistant City Attorney City of Corpus Christi P. O. Box 9277 Corpus Christi, Texas 78469-9277 OR2010-01335 Dear Ms. Aguilar: 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# 373173. The City of Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Police Department (collectively, the "city") received two requests for information related to a specified incident. You state that the city has withheld and released some responsive information in reliance on Open Records Letter No. 2009-12773 (2009). (1) You claim that the remaining requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.136 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. Section 552.101 encompasses section 11 of article 49.25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides: The medical examiner shall keep full and complete records properly indexed, giving the name if known of every person whose death is investigated, the place where the body was found, the date, the cause and manner of death, and shall issue a death certificate. . . . The records are subject to required public disclosure in accordance with Chapter 552, Government Code, except that a photograph or x-ray of a body taken during an autopsy is excepted from required public disclosure in accordance with Chapter 552, Government Code, but is subject to disclosure: (1) under a subpoena or authority of other law; or (2) if the photograph or x-ray is of the body of a person who died while in the custody of law enforcement. Crim. Proc. Code art. 49.25, § 11. The submitted information includes photographs of a body taken during an autopsy. You do not indicate either of the statutory exceptions to confidentiality is applicable in this instance. Thus, the city must withhold the submitted photographs of a body taken during an autopsy under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 11 of article 49.25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, we note the submitted information also includes a photograph that is not of the body. This photograph of a sheet of paper, which you have labeled as 96P38105, is not confidential under article 49.25, and the city may not withhold it under section 552.101 on that basis. Section 552.136 of the Government Code states that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a credit card, debit card, charge card, or access device number that is collected, assembled, or maintained by or for a governmental body is confidential." Gov't Code § 552.136(b); see id. § 552.136(a) (defining "access device"). This office has concluded that insurance policy numbers constitute access device numbers for purposes of section 552.136. Accordingly, the city must withhold the insurance policy number you have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code. (2) In summary, the city may continue to rely on our prior ruling in Open Records Letter No. 2009-12773. Except for the photograph labeled as 96P38105, the city must withhold the submitted photographs of a body taken during an autopsy under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 11 of article 49.25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The city must withhold the insurance policy number you have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code. The remaining submitted information must be released to the requestors. 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, Cindy Nettles Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division CN/eb Ref: ID# 373173 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestors (w/o enclosures)
1. See Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (so long as law, facts, 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).
We note that this office recently issued Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), a previous
determination to all governmental bodies, which authorizes withholding of ten categories of information,
including insurance policy numbers under section 552.136 of the Government Code, without the necessity of
requesting an attorney general decision. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |