February 25, 2010

Mr. B. Chase Griffith

Brown & Hofmeister, L.L.P.

740 East Campbell Road Suite 800

Richardson, Texas 75081

OR2010-02858

Dear Mr. Griffith:

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# 375598 (PIR # 624).

The Town of Flower Mound (the "town"), which you represent, received a request for information relating to a specified traffic citation. You state that some of the requested information has been released. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

Section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Section 552.108(b)(1) excepts from disclosure "[a]n internal record or notation of a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that is maintained for internal use in matters relating to law enforcement or prosecution . . . if . . . release of the internal record or notation would interfere with law enforcement or prosecution." Id. § 552.108(b)(1). A governmental body must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You contend that release of the information at issue would interfere with pending cases. We note, however, that the submitted information consists of three traffic citations. Because a copy of a citation is provided to the individual who is cited, we find that release of the submitted traffic citations will not interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Likewise, the release of the citations will not interfere with law enforcement or crime prevention. See id. § 552.108(b)(1); City of Fort Worth v. Cornyn, 86 S.W.3d 320, 327 (Tex. App.--Austin 2002, no pet.). We therefore conclude that the town may not withhold any of the submitted information under section 552.108 of the Government Code.

We note that the citations contain Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information. Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit or a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state. ⁽¹⁾ See Gov't Code. § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). The town must withhold the Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information we have marked under section 552.130. ⁽²⁾ Because this exception protects personal privacy, the requestor has a right of access to his own Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information under section 552.023 of the Government Code. See id. § 552.023. ⁽³⁾ Therefore, the requestor's driver's license and motor vehicle information may not be withheld under section 552.130 and must be released. See Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individual requests information concerning himself).

In summary, the town must withhold the marked Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The rest of the submitted information must be released. ⁽⁴⁾

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 W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/cc

Ref: ID# 375598

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Unlike other exceptions to disclosure under the Act, this office will raise section 552.130 on behalf of a governmental body, as this exception is mandatory and may not be waived. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007, .352; Open Records Decision No. 674 at 3 n.4 (2001) (mandatory exceptions).

2. We note that 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 a Texas driver's license number and a Texas license plate number under section 552.130, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

3. Section 552.023 provides in part that "[a] person or a person's authorized representative has a special right of access, beyond the right of the general public, to information held by a governmental body that relates to the person and that is protected from public disclosure by laws intended to protect that person's privacy interests." Gov't Code § 552.023(a).

4. Should the town receive another request for these same records from a person who would not have a right of access to this requestor's Texas driver's license and motor vehicle information, the town should resubmit these records and request another decision. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(a), .302.

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer