October 7, 2010

Ms. Talibah Young

Assistant General Counsel

University of Houston System

E. Cullen Building Suite 311

Houston, Texas 77204-2162

OR2010-15341

Dear Ms. Young:

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# 395964.

The University of Houston (the "university") received a request for a master merchant credit card processing agreement. Although you take no position on the public availability of the submitted information, you believe the information may implicate the proprietary interests of Bank of America ("BOA"). You inform us that BOA was notified of this request for information and of its right to submit arguments to this office as to why the submitted information should not be released. ⁽¹⁾ We have reviewed the submitted information.

An interested third party is allowed ten business days from the date of its receipt of the governmental body's notice under section 552.305 of the Government Code to submit its reasons, if any, as to why information relating to that party should not be released. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d)(2)(B). As of the date of this decision, this office has received no correspondence from BOA. Thus, because BOA has not demonstrated that any of the information at issue is proprietary for the purposes of the Act, the university may not withhold any of the submitted information on the basis of any proprietary interest that BOA may have in the information. See id. § 552.110(a)-(b); Open Records Decision Nos. 552 at 5 (1990), 661 at 5-6 (1999). Therefore, as the university does not claim an exception to disclosure, 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/em

Ref: ID# 395964

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Mr. Nick London

Bank of America

700 Louisiana Street, 7^th Floor

Houston, Texas 77002-2700

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (statutory predecessor to Gov't Code § 552.305 permitted governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exception to disclosure under certain circumstances).

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