 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
 |
March 22, 2010 Mr. John C West General Counsel Office of Inspector General Texas Department of Criminal Justice P.O. Box 13084 Austin, Texas 78711-3084 OR2010-03976 Dear Mr. West: 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# 373328. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Office of the Inspector General (the "OIG") received a request for a copy of the requestor's disciplinary records as well as anything negative reflected in her records. The OIG states it has released some of the requested information with redactions pursuant to the previous determination issued to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the "department") in Open Records Letter No. 2005-01067 (2005) (1) and section 552.147 of the Government Code. (2) You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.134 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.134 of the Government Code relates to inmates of the department and provides in relevant part: (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or by Section 552.029 [of the Government Code], information obtained or maintained by the [department] is excepted from [required public disclosure] if it is information about an inmate who is confined in a facility operated by or under a contract with the department. Gov't Code § 552.134(a). The submitted information pertains to disciplinary action against a former corrections officer. This disciplinary information contains inmate-identifying information, which we have marked, that the OIG must withhold under section 552.134. However, the remaining information at issue does not constitute "information about an inmate" for purposes of section 552.134, and the OIG may not withhold the remaining information on that basis. (3) As you raise no other exceptions to disclosure, the remaining 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, Nneka Kanu Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division NK/jb Ref: ID# 373328 Enc. Submitted documents cc: Requestor (w/o enclosures)
1. Open Records Letter No. 2005-01067 authorizes the department to withhold the present and former
home addresses and telephone numbers, social security numbers, and family member information of its current
or former employees under section 552.117(a)(3) of the Government Code, regardless of whether the current
or former employee complies with section 552.1175 of the Government Code, without the necessity of
requesting a decision under the Act. See Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (listing elements of first type
of previous determination under section 552.301(a)).
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. See Gov't Code § 552.147(b).
We note that the submitted information contains social security numbers belonging to persons other
than the requestor. As previously note, 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.
We note the requestor has a special right of access to some of the information being released in this
instance. See Gov't Code § 552.023(b) (governmental body may not deny access to person to whom
information relates or person's agent on ground that information is considered confidential by privacy
principles); Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individuals
request information concerning themselves). Because such information may be confidential with respect to the
general public, if the OIG receives another request for this information from an individual other than this
requestor, it should again seek a ruling from this office. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301, .302. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |