June 8, 2010

Ms. Michelle T. Rangel

Assistant County Attorney

Fort Bend County

301 Jackson Street, Suite 728

Richmond, Texas 77469

OR2010-08339

Dear Ms. Rangel:

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# 382092.

The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office (the "sheriff") received two requests from the same requestor for the complete personnel file of a named individual. You indicate the sheriff has released some of the requested information to the requestor. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.117 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 1701.454 of the Occupations Code, which governs the public availability of an F-5 form ("Report of Separation of Licensee") submitted to the TCLEOSE under subchapter J of chapter 1701 of the Occupations Code. Section 1701.454 provides:

(a) A report or statement submitted to [TCLEOSE] under this subchapter is confidential and is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, unless the person resigned or was terminated due to substantiated incidents of excessive force or violations of the law other than traffic offenses.

(b) Except as provided by this subchapter, a [TCLEOSE] member or other person may not release the contents of a report or statement submitted under this subchapter.

Occ. Code § 1701.454. In this instance, it does not appear that the named individual resigned due to substantiated incidents of excessive force or violations of the law other than traffic offenses. We therefore conclude that the sheriff must withhold the submitted F-5 form you have labeled Exhibit B under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 1701.454 of the Occupations Code.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code also encompasses the doctrine of common-law privacy, which excepts from public disclosure private information about an individual if the information (1) contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) is not of legitimate concern to the public. Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). This office has found that personal financial information not relating to a financial transaction between an individual and a governmental body is generally protected by common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 600 (1992) (employee's designation of retirement beneficiary, choice of insurance carrier, election of optional coverages, direct deposit authorization, forms allowing employee to allocate pretax compensation to group insurance, health care or dependent care), 545 (1990) (deferred compensation information, participation in voluntary investment program, election of optional insurance coverage, mortgage payments, assets, bills, and credit history). Additionally, this office has found some kinds of medical information or information indicating disabilities or specific illnesses are excepted from required public disclosure under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 470 (1987) (information pertaining to illness from severe emotional and job-related stress protected by common-law privacy), 455 (1987) (information pertaining to prescription drugs, specific illnesses, operations and procedures, and physical disabilities protected from disclosure). Upon review, we find that portions of the submitted information are highly intimate or embarrassing and of no legitimate public interest. Accordingly, the sheriff must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

Section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code excepts from disclosure the home address, home telephone number, social security number, and family member information of a peace officer, as defined by article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. See Gov't Code § 552.117(a)(2); Open Records Decision No. 670 (2001). In this case, it is unclear whether the individual whose personal information is at issue is currently a licensed peace officer, as defined by article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Therefore, if the individual concerned is a licensed peace officer, as defined by article 2.12, then the sheriff must withhold the personal information we have marked under section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code. However, if the individual is not a licensed peace officer, then the sheriff may not withhold any of the submitted information under section 552.117(a)(2). In either case, the remaining information may not be withheld under section 552.117.

If the individual concerned is not a licensed peace officer, but is a county jailer, then the personal information may be excepted under section 552.1175 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ Section 552.1175 provides in part:

(b) Information that relates to the home address, home telephone number, or social security number of [a county jailer as defined by section 1701.001 of the Occupations Code], or that reveals whether the individual has family members is confidential and may not be disclosed to the public under this chapter if the individual to whom the information relates:

(1) chooses to restrict public access to the information; and

(2) notifies the governmental body of the individual's choice on a form provided by the governmental body, accompanied by evidence of the individual's status.

Gov't Code § 552.1175(b). If the individual concerned is a county jailer, as defined by section 1701.001 of the Occupations Code, then the sheriff must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.1175 of the Government Code to the extent the individual requests confidentiality for the information under section 552.1175(b). ⁽²⁾

Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information that relates to "a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state." Id. § 552.130(a)(1). Accordingly, the sheriff must withhold the Texas driver's license number we have marked under section 552.130. ⁽³⁾

In summary, (1) the sheriff must withhold the submitted F-5 form you have labeled Exhibit B under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 1701.454 of the Occupations Code; (2) the sheriff must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy; (3) if the individual concerned is a licensed peace officer, then the sheriff must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code; if the individual is not a licensed peace officer, but is a county jailer, then the sheriff must withhold the marked information under section 552.1175 to the extent the individual requests confidentiality for the information under section 552.1175(b); and (4) the sheriff must withhold the Texas driver's license number we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information must be released to the requestor.

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,

Christopher D. Sterner

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CDSA/eeg

Ref: ID# 382092

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. The Office of the Attorney General will raise mandatory exceptions on behalf of a governmental body, but ordinarily will not raise other exceptions. See Open Records Decision Nos. 481 (1987), 480 (1987), 470 (1987).

2. Regardless of the applicability of section 552.117 or section 552.1175, 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.

3. We note 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 of the Government Code, 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
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