March 23, 2010

Mr. Leonard V. Schneider

Ross, Banks, May, Cron & Cavin P.C.

Attorneys for City of Magnolia

2 Riverway, Suite 700

Houston, Texas 77056-1918

OR2010-04045

Dear Mr. Schneider:

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# 374269.

The City of Magnolia (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for an updated draft of the city's audit report that was attached to a specified e-mail. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.111 and 552.116 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.116 of the Government Code provides as follows:

(a) An audit working paper of an audit of the state auditor or the auditor of a state agency, an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, a county, a municipality, a school district, or a joint board operating under Section 22.074, Transportation Code, including any audit relating to the criminal history background check of a public school employee, is excepted from [required public disclosure]. If information in an audit working paper is also maintained in another record, that other record is not excepted from [public disclosure] by this section.

(b) In this section:

(1) "Audit" means an audit authorized or required by a statute of this state or the United States, the charter or an ordinance of a municipality, an order of the commissioners court of a county, a resolution or other action of a board of trustees of a school district, including an audit by the district relating to the criminal history background check of a public school employee, or a resolution or other action of a joint board described by Subsection (a) and includes an investigation.

(2) "Audit working paper" includes all information, documentary or otherwise, prepared or maintained in conducting an audit or preparing an audit report, including:

(A) intra-agency and interagency communications; and

(B) drafts of the audit report or portions of those drafts.

Gov't Code § 552.116. You state the submitted information consists of a draft audit report prepared for the city by auditors retained by the city. You also inform us the city's audit is authorized by section 103.001(a) of the Local Government Code. You further state that this audit is in draft form and was prepared for the city finance officer's review before final approval by the city council. Based on your representations and our review, we conclude the submitted information is an audit working paper that was prepared or maintained by the city auditor in conducting an audit authorized or required by a statute of this state. See id. § 552.116(a), (b)(1), (b)(2). Accordingly, the city may withhold the submitted information under section 552.116 of the Government Code.

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,

Mack T. Harrison

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

MTH/rl

Ref: ID# 374269

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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