April 5, 2010

Ms. Michelle L. Villarreal

Assistant City Attorney

City of Waco

P.O. Box 2570

Waco, Texas 76702-2570

OR2010-04706

Dear Ms. Villarreal:

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# 379810 (LGL-10-277).

The Waco Police Department (the "department") received a request for information pertaining to a specified incident. You state some of the responsive information has been released. You claim that portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.108, and 552.130 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 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 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code. Section 550.065(b) states that except as provided by subsection (c) or (e), accident reports are privileged and for the confidential use of certain specified entities. Transp. Code § 550.065(b). The submitted ST-3, CR-3, and CRB-3 crash reports were completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See id. § 550.064 (officer's accident report). Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of accident reports to a person who provides two of the following three pieces of information: (1) the date of the accident; (2) the name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) the specific location of the accident. Id. § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, a governmental entity is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides two or more pieces of information specified by the statute. Id. In this instance, the requestor has provided the department with the requisite information for the CR-3 crash report. Accordingly, the department must release this report in its entirety to the requestor. However, the requestor has not provided the requisite information for the ST-3 and CRB-3 crash reports. Therefore, the department must withhold the submitted ST-3 and CRB-3 crash reports pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code.

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). 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 inform us that the information you have marked is related to a pending criminal investigation. Based on your representation, we conclude that section 552.108(a)(1) is generally applicable in this instance. See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases).

However, basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime is not excepted from disclosure under section 552.108. Gov't Code § 552.108(c). Such basic, front-page information refers to the information held to be public in Houston Chronicle, and includes, among other things, a detailed description of the offense. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-8; see also Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). We note that you have marked almost the entire narrative portion of the submitted report as information you seek to withhold under section 552.108.  However, the remaining portions of the report do not contain information sufficient to satisfy the requirement that a "detailed description of the offense" be released as basic information. See ORD 127. Accordingly, we determine that the department must release a sufficient portion of the narrative section of the report that encompasses a detailed description of the offense in order to satisfy the required release of basic information pursuant to Houston Chronicle. The department may withhold the remaining information you marked under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾

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. See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). We note, however, that this exception protects privacy, which is a personal right that lapses at an individual's death. See Moore v. Charles B. Pierce Film Enters. Inc., 589 S.W.2d 489 (Tex. Civ. App.-Texarkana 1979, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Attorney General Opinions JM-229 (1984); H-917 (1976); Open Records Decision No. 272 (1981). A portion of the information you have marked pertains to a deceased individual. This information may not be withheld under section 552.130. However, the department must withhold the remaining information you have marked, as well as the additional information we have marked, under section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾

In summary, the department must release the submitted CR-3 crash report. The department withhold the submitted ST-3 and CRB-3 crash reports pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code. With the exception of basic information, the department may withhold the information you have marked under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. With the exception of the information belonging to the deceased individual, the department must withhold the marked Texas motor vehicle record information under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information 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,

Tamara H. Holland

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

THH/jb

Ref: ID# 379810

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As our ruling is dispositive, we do not address your other arguments against disclosure of this information.

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 Texas driver's license and license plate numbers under section 552.130, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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