March 31, 2010

Ms. Julia Gannaway

Lynn, Pham & Ross, LLP

For City of Alice

306 West Broadway Avenue

Fort Worth, Texas 76104

OR2010-04529

Dear Ms. Gannaway:

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# 375877.

The City of Alice (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for the names and tax identification numbers of every employee, elected, assigned, paid, or otherwise, that is involved with the receiving, handling, and/or distribution of funds for the city. You claim that the requested tax identification numbers, which are the individuals' social security numbers, are excepted from disclosure under section 552.147 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted representative sample of information. ⁽¹⁾

Section 552.147 of the Government Code states that "[t]he social security number of a living person is excepted from" required public disclosure under the Act. ⁽²⁾ Gov't Code § 552.147. Therefore, the city may withhold the marked social security numbers under section 552.147 of the Government Code. The requested names must be released.

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,

Kate Hartfield

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

KH/dls

Ref: ID# 375877

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We assume that the "representative sample" of records submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent that those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.

2. 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. Gov't Code § 552.147.

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