January 11, 2011

Ms. J. Middlebrooks

Assistant City Attorney

Criminal Law and Police Section

City of Dallas

1400 South Lamar

Dallas, Texas 75215

OR2011-00522

Dear Ms. Middlebrooks:

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# 405579 (DPD PIR No. 2010-9759).

The City of Dallas (the "city") received a request for the requestor's client's personnel file and internal affairs resume, a specified internal affairs investigation involving the requestor's client, and any information related to the disciplinary action taken against the requestor's client. You state some responsive information will be released to the requestor. You claim some of the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.117, 552.130, and 552.136 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted representative sample of information. ⁽¹⁾

Section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure a peace officer's home address and telephone number, social security number, and family member information regardless of whether the peace officer made an election under section 552.024 of the Government Code. Gov't Code § 552.117(a)(2). Section 552.117(a)(2) applies to peace officers as defined by article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Upon review, we conclude the city must withhold the personal information of a peace officer you have marked under section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code 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." Id. § 552.130(a)(1), (2). We note a portion of the information you seek to withhold under section 552.130 is a social security number, not Texas motor vehicle information that is subject to section 552.130. The city may not withhold this social security number under section 552.130. ⁽²⁾ The city must withhold the Texas motor vehicle record information we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽³⁾

Section 552.136 of the Government Code provides that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of [the Act], a credit card, debit card, charge card, or access device number that is collected, assembled, or maintained by or for a governmental body is confidential." Id. § 552.136(b); see id. § 552.136(a) (defining "access device"). You inform us an employee's identification number is used in conjunction with one additional digit in order to access the employee's credit union account. Thus, we find the city must withhold the identification number you have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code.

In summary, the city must withhold the marked personal information of a police officer under section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code. The city must also withhold the marked information under sections 552.130 and 552.136 of the Government Code. The remaining information must be released. ⁽⁴⁾

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,

Jennifer Burnett

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JB/dls

Ref: ID# 405579

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We assume that the "representative sample" of information submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent that those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.

2. We note 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. Gov't Code § 552.147(b).

3. In Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), this office issued a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including Texas driver's license and license plate numbers under section 552.130 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

4. We note the information being released in this instance contains confidential information to which the requestor has a right of access. See Gov't Code § 552.023(a) (person or person's authorized representative has special right of access, beyond right of general public, to information held by governmental body that relates to person and is protected from public disclosure by laws intended to protect person's privacy interests). If the city receives another request for this same information from a different requestor, then the city should again seek a decision from this office.

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