April 16, 2010

Mr. James Mu

Assistant General Counsel

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Office of General Counsel

P.O. Box 4004

Huntsville, Texas 77342-4004

OR2010-05428

Dear Mr. Mu:

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# 376527.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the "department") received a request for (1) information relating to the requestor, (2) the contract details for two specified facilities relating to offenders without approved home plans, and (3) the names of specified parole board members. You state a portion of the information has been released. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.134 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 excepts from public 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 508.313 of the Government Code, which provides, in relevant part:

(a) All information obtained and maintained [by the department], including a victim protest letter or other correspondence, a victim impact statement, a list of inmates eligible for release on parole, and an arrest record of an inmate, is confidential and privileged if the information relates to:

(1) an inmate of the institutional division [of the department] subject to release on parole, release to mandatory supervision, or executive clemency;

(2) a releasee; or

(3) a person directly identified in any proposed plan of release for an inmate.

. . .

(e) This section does not apply to information relating to a sex offender that is authorized for release under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure.

(f) This section does not apply to information that is subject to required public disclosure under Section 552.029.

Id. § 508.313(a), (e), (f); see id. § 508.001(9) ("releasee" means a person released on parole or to mandatory supervision). You state the submitted information constitutes documents originating from the Parole Division file of the department and relates to a releasee. You do not inform us the requestor is an entity authorized to obtain the information at issue under section 508.313(c). You further state the submitted information is not made public by section 552.029 of the Government Code. See id. § 508.313(f). Accordingly, we find the submitted information is generally subject to section 508.313 of the Government Code.

We note, however, the submitted information relates to a sex offender subject to registration under Chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Article 62.051 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires a sex offender registrant to provide the following information for the Department of Public Safety ("DPS") sex offender registration database: the person's full name; each alias; date of birth; sex; race; height; weight; eye color; hair color; social security number; driver's license number; shoe size; home address; a photograph of the person; a complete set of the person's fingerprints; the type of offense the person was convicted of; the age of the victim; the date of the conviction; the punishment received; an indication as to whether the person is discharged, paroled, or released on juvenile probation, community supervision, or mandatory supervision; an indication of each license, as defined by article 62.005(g), that is held or sought by the person; an indication as to whether the person is or will be employed, carrying on a vocation, or a student at particular public or private institution of higher education in this state or another state, and the name and address of that institution; and any other information required by DPS. See Crim. Proc. Code art. 62.051(c). This information is public information with the exception of the person's social security number, driver's license number, telephone number, all information required by DPS outside of the enumerated categories of information, and any information that would identify the victim of the offense for which the person is subject to registration. See id. art. 62.005(b). A penal institution may release information regarding a person required to register only if the information is public information under chapter 62. See id. art. 62.009(a). Therefore, with the exception of the information subject to article 62.005 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the department must withhold the submitted information under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 508.313 of the Government Code. The information subject to article 62.005 must be released. Although you also raise section 552.134 of the Government Code for the submitted information, we note this office has long held information that is specifically made public by statute may not be withheld from the public under any of the exceptions to public disclosure under the Act. See, e.g., Open Records Decision Nos. 544 (1990), 378 (1983), 161 (1977), 146 (1976).

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,

Claire V. Morris Sloan

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CVMS/jb

Ref: ID# 376527

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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