September 9, 2010

Ms. S. McClellan

Assistant City Attorney

Criminal Law and Police Division

City of Dallas

1400 South Lamar

Dallas, Texas 75215

OR2010-13682

Dear Ms. McClellan:

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# 393144 (DPD Request No. 2010-5731).

The Dallas Police Department (the "department") received a request for information pertaining to a specified address. You claim that the submitted 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 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 information that other statutes make confidential. The submitted documents include a CR-3 crash report that was completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). Section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code states that except as provided by subsection (c) or subsection (e), accident reports are privileged and confidential. See id. § 550.065. Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of accident reports to a person who provides two of the following three items 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. See id. § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, the Texas Department of Transportation or another governmental entity is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides the agency with two or more of the items of information specified by the statute. Id. In this instance, the requestor has not provided the department with two of the required pieces of information. Thus, the department must withhold the CR-3 accident report we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code.

Next you have marked telephone numbers in the submitted information that you claim are confidential under section 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code, which also encompasses section 552.101 of the Government Code. Chapter 772 of the Health and Safety Code relates to local emergency communications districts. Section 772.318 applies to an emergency 9-1-1 district established in accordance with chapter 772, and makes confidential the originating telephone numbers and addresses of 9-1-1 callers that are furnished by a service supplier. See Open Records Decision No. 649 (1996). The City of Dallas is part of an emergency communication district that was established under section 772.318. ⁽¹⁾ Provided that the information you have marked consists of originating telephone numbers furnished by a 9-1-1 service supplier, we agree that the department must withhold the marked information under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code.

Section 552.101 also encompasses the doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information that (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). The types of information considered intimate or embarrassing by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating to sexual assault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children, psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs. Id. at 683. Upon review, we conclude the information you have marked is highly intimate or embarrassing and of no legitimate public interest. Accordingly, the department must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

Finally, you have marked license plate numbers in the remaining information under section 552.130 of the Government Code. Section 552.130 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 [or] a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state[.]" Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). Section 552.130 does not apply to out of state motor vehicle record information. It is unclear whether the information you have marked consists of Texas license plate numbers. To the extent the license plate numbers you have marked in the remaining information were issued by the state of Texas, the department must withhold them under section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾ If the marked license plate numbers were not issued by the state of Texas, they must be released.

In summary, the department must withhold the CR-3 accident report we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code. Provided that the information you have marked consists of originating telephone numbers furnished by a 9-1-1 service supplier, the department must withhold it under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code. The department must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. To the extent the license plate numbers you have marked in the remaining information were issued by the state of Texas, the department must withhold them 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,

Laura Ream Lemus

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

LRL/eb

Ref: ID# 393144

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Section 772.318 applies to an emergency communication district for a county with a population of more than 20,000.

2. 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 Texas license plate numbers under section 552.130 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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