January 3, 2011

Ms. Teresa J. Brown

Senior Open Records Assistant

Plano Police Department

P.O. Box 860358

Plano, Texas 75086-0358

OR2011-00057

Dear Ms. Brown:

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# 409679 (Plano Reference No. STCC121310).

The Plano Police Department (the "department") received a request for information pertaining to a specified incident. You state you have released some of the requested information. You also state that the department will withhold portions of the requested information based upon a previous determination for withholding information under section 552.108(a)(1) granted by the ruling in Office of the Attorney General v. Plano Police Department, No. GV-001919 (126th Dist. Ct., Travis County, Tex., December 18, 2000). You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to information whose release would interfere with a pending criminal investigation or prosecution. A governmental body must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state that the release of the submitted information would interfere with a pending criminal case. Based on your representation, we conclude section 552.108(a)(1) is generally applicable in this instance. See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ.App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976).

We note, however, that the submitted information includes a statutory warning and a notice of suspension. Because copies of those documents are provided to the person who is the subject of the warning and the notice, we find that the release of the statutory warning and the notice of suspension will not interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Therefore, the department may not withhold the statutory warning and the notice of suspension under section 552.108(a)(1).

We also note that the statutory warning and the notice of suspension contain a Texas driver's license number. Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state. See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). The Texas driver's license number we have marked must be withheld from the requestor under section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ The remaining information in the statutory warning and the notice of suspension must be released. The rest of the submitted information may be withheld under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code.

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,

Paige Lay

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

PL/eeg

Ref: ID# 409679

Enc. Submitted documents

cc: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note that 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 a Texas driver's license number under section 552.130, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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