 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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June 7, 2010 Ms. Linda Rhodes City Secretary City of Lake Worth 3805 Adam Grubb Lake Worth, Texas 76135-3509 OR2010-08260 Dear Ms. Rhodes: 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# 387250. The Lake Worth Police Department (the "department") received a request for information relating to an incident that involved a named individual. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the information you submitted. 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. This exception encompasses information that other statutes make confidential. Section 58.007 of the Family Code provides in part: (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be: (1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records; (2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and (3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapters B, D, and E. Fam. Code § 58.007(c); see id. § 51.03(a)-(b) (defining "delinquent conduct" and "conduct indicating need for supervision" for purposes of Fam. Code tit. 3). Section 58.007(c) is applicable to records of juvenile conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. See Act of June 2, 1997, 75th Leg., R.S., ch. 1086, §§ 20, 55(a), 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4179, 4187, 4199; Open Records Decision No. 644 (1996). The juvenile must have been at least 10 years old and less than 17 years of age when the conduct occurred. See Fam. Code § 51.02(2) (defining "child" for purposes of title 3 of Family Code). Section 58.007(c) is not applicable to information that relates to a juvenile as a complainant, victim, witness, or other involved party and not as a suspect or offender. Although you seek to withhold the submitted information under section 58.007(c), we find that the information at issue does not involve a juvenile offense. We therefore conclude that the submitted information is not confidential under section 58.007(c) of the Family Code and may not be withheld on that basis under section 552.101 of the Government Code. Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state. See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). The Texas driver's license numbers we have marked fall within the scope of this exception. We note, however, that section 552.130 protects personal privacy. In this instance, the requestor appears to be the spouse of the individual to whom one of the driver's license numbers pertains. As such, the requestor may be that individual's authorized representative. If the requestor is that individual's authorized representative, then he has a right of access under section 552.023 of the Government Code to her private information. See id. § 552.023; Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individual requests information concerning herself). (1) Therefore, if the requestor is that individual's personal representative, then her driver's license number may not be withheld from this requestor under section 552.130 and must be released. If the requestor is not that individual's authorized representative, then the department must withhold her driver's license number under section 552.130. (2) In either event, the other marked driver's license number must be withheld from the requestor under section 552.130, and the rest of the submitted 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, James W. Morris, III Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division JWM/sdk Ref: ID# 387250 Enc: Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures) Footnotes1. Section 552.023 provides in part that "[a] person or a person's authorized representative has a special right of access, beyond the right of the general public, to information held by a governmental body that relates to the person and that is protected from public disclosure by laws intended to protect that person's privacy interests." Gov't Code § 552.023(a). 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 a Texas driver's license number under section 552.130, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |