November 2, 2010

Ms. Michelle L. Villarreal

Assistant City Attorney

City of Waco

P.O. Box 2570

Waco, Texas 76702-2570

OR2010-16602

Dear Ms. Villarreal:

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# 403511 (City of Waco Ref. # LG-10-1366).

The City of Waco (the "city") received a request for a specified police report. You claim portions of the requested information are 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 made confidential by other statutes. Chapter 772 of the Health and Safety Code authorizes the development of local emergency communications districts. Sections 772.118, 772.218, and 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code are applicable to emergency 9-1-1 districts established in accordance with chapter 772. See Open Records Decision No. 649 (1996). These sections make only the originating telephone numbers and addresses of 9-1-1 callers that are furnished by a service supplier confidential. Id. at 2. Section 772.318 applies to an emergency communication district for a county with a population of more than 20,000. We understand the city to be part of an emergency communication district established under section 772.318. You have marked the telephone number that the city seeks to withhold under section 772.318. Thus, we find that to the extent the telephone number you have marked is the originating telephone number provided by a 9-1-1 service supplier, this information must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code. However, to the extent the marked telephone number was not supplied by a 9-1-1 service supplier, section 772.318 is not applicable to this telephone number and it may not be withheld under this exception.

Next, you claim that the information you have marked in the remaining information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.130 of the Government Code. This section excepts from disclosure information that relates to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit or a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state. See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). Because this exception protects personal privacy, the requestor has a right of access to her own Texas motor vehicle record information under section 552.023 of the Government Code. See id. § 552.023(a); Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individual requests information concerning herself). In this instance, the requestor has a right of access to all of the Texas motor vehicle record information at issue, and the city may not withhold it under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, to the extent the telephone number you have marked is the originating telephone number provided by a 9-1-1 service supplier, this information must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 772.318 of the Health and Safety 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,

Tamara H. Holland

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

THH/em

Ref: ID# 403511

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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