September 21, 2010

Ms. Jessica Sangsvang

Assistant City Attorney

City of Fort Worth

1000 Throckmorton Street, 3^rd Floor

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

OR2010-14283

Dear Ms. Sangsvang:

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# 394133 (City of Fort Worth PIR No. W001996).

The City of Fort Worth (the "city") received a request for all reports pertaining to a named individual including a specified report. You state you have redacted Texas motor vehicle record information relating to individuals other than the requestor under section 552.130 of the Government Code pursuant to previous determinations issued to the city. ⁽¹⁾ You also state you have redacted social security numbers pursuant to section 552.147 of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾ You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

We note that you have redacted portions of the remaining information. Pursuant to section 552.301 of the Government Code, a governmental body that seeks to withhold requested information must submit to this office a copy of the information, labeled to indicate which exceptions apply to which parts of the copy, unless the governmental body has received a previous determination for the information at issue. See Gov't Code § 552.301(a), (e)(1)(D). Some of the redacted information consists of e-mail addresses, which you are authorized to redact pursuant to Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009). Open Records Decision No. 684 is a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including e-mail addresses of members of the public under section 552.137 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision. However, you do not assert, nor does our review of the records indicate, that you have been authorized to withhold any of the remaining redacted information without seeking a ruling from this office. See id. § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 (2000). As such, the information must be submitted in a manner that enables this office to determine whether the information comes within the scope of an exception to disclosure. In this instance, we can discern the nature of the redacted information; thus, being deprived of that information does not inhibit our ability to make a ruling. In the future, however, the city should refrain from redacting any information it is not authorized to withhold in seeking an open records ruling. Failure to do so may result in the presumption the redacted information is public. See Gov't Code § 552.302.

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 the doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information if (1) the information contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) the information is not of legitimate concern to the public. Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). To demonstrate the applicability of common-law privacy, both prongs of this test must be satisfied. Id. at 681-82. A compilation of an individual's criminal history is highly embarrassing information, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person. Cf. United States Dep't of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 764 (1989) (when considering prong regarding individual's privacy interest, court recognized distinction between public records found in courthouse files and local police stations and compiled summary of information and noted that individual has significant privacy interest in compilation of one's criminal history). Furthermore, we find that a compilation of a private citizen's criminal history is generally not of legitimate concern to the public.

The present request seeks, in part, unspecified law enforcement information pertaining to a named individual. We find the portion of this request seeking unspecified law enforcement records requires the city to compile the named individual's criminal history and, thereby, implicates the named individual's right to privacy. Therefore, with the exception of the specified report, to the extent the city maintains law enforcement records depicting the named individual as a suspect, arrestee, or criminal defendant, the city must withhold such information under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. We note, however, that you have submitted information in which the named individual is not listed as a suspect, arrestee, or criminal defendant and the specified report. This information is not part of a criminal history compilation and, thus, does not implicate the individual's right to privacy. Accordingly, the city may not withhold this information under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy.

In summary, with the exception of the specified report, to the extent the city maintains law enforcement records depicting the named individual as a suspect, arrestee, or criminal defendant, the city must withhold such information under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. 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,

Jonathan Miles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JM/eeg

Ref: ID# 394133

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. See Open Records Letter Nos. 2006-14726 (2006) and 2007-00198 (2007); see also Gov't Code § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 at 7-8 (2001).

2. 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.

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