 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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August 11, 2010 Ms. Yvette Aguilar Assistant City Attorney City of Corpus Christi Police Legal Advisor P. O. Box 9277 Corpus Christi, Texas 78469-9277 OR2010-12170 Dear Ms. Aguilar: 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# 394702. The City of Corpus Christi (the "city") received a request for information pertaining to a specified arrest. You state the city has released some of the requested information to the requestor. You have redacted a social security number pursuant to section 552.147 of the Government Code and a Texas driver's license number pursuant to Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009). (1) You claim that portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.108 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 criminal history record information ("CHRI") generated by the National Crime Information Center or by the Texas Crime Information Center. Title 28, part 20 of the Code of Federal Regulations governs the release of CHRI that states obtain from the federal government or other states. Open Records Decision No. 565 (1990). The federal regulations allow each state to follow its individual law with respect to CHRI it generates. Id. Section 411.083 of the Government Code deems confidential CHRI that the Texas Department of Public Safety ("DPS") maintains, except that DPS may disseminate this information as provided in chapter 411, subchapter F of the Government Code. See Gov't Code § 411.083. Sections 411.083(b)(1) and 411.089(a) authorize a criminal justice agency to obtain CHRI; however, a criminal justice agency may not release CHRI except to another criminal justice agency for a criminal justice purpose. Id. § 411.089(b)(1). Other entities specified in chapter 411 of the Government Code are entitled to obtain CHRI from DPS or another criminal justice agency; however, those entities may not release CHRI except as provided by chapter 411. See generally id. §§ 411.090-.127. Thus, any CHRI obtained from DPS or any other criminal justice agency must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with Government Code chapter 411, subchapter F. See id. § 411.082(2)(B) (term CHRI does not include driving record information). Upon review, we agree that the information you have marked consists of CHRI. Therefore, the city must withhold the marked information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with chapter 411 of the Government Code and federal law. Next, you claim that some of the remaining information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. Section 552.108(a)(1) 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[.]" Id. § 552.108(a)(1). Generally, a governmental body claiming section 552.108(a)(1) must reasonably explain how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You inform us that the marked information relates to a pending criminal case. Based upon your representation and our review, we find that section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to the information you have marked. 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). The city may, therefore, withhold the information you have marked pursuant to section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. (2) In summary, the city must withhold the information you marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with chapter 411 of the Government Code and federal law. The city may withhold the information you have marked under section 552.108(a)(1) 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, Laura Ream Lemus Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division LRL/jb Ref: ID# 394702 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures)
1. Section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a government 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. Additionally. this office recently issued Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), a previous
determination to all governmental bodies, which authorizes withholding of 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.
We note that you have the discretion to release all or part of the information you marked under
section 552.108 that is not otherwise confidential by law. Gov't Code § 552.007. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |