January 13, 2011

Ms. J. Middlebrooks

Assistant City Attorney

City of Dallas

1400 South Lamar

Dallas, Texas 75215

OR2011-00715

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# 405958 (DPD request # 2010-9874)

The Dallas Police Department (the "department") received a request for "[e]xecutive summaries on all internal affairs investigations that resulted in a 10 day or more suspension on a Dallas police officer since July 1, 2010." You claim that portions of the requested information are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.117, and 552.136 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted representative sample of information. ⁽¹⁾

Section 552.101 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 common-law right of privacy, which protects information if it (1) contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) 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 established. Id. at 681-82. The type of information considered intimate and embarrassing by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating to sexual assault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children, psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs. Id. at 683. Whether information is subject to a legitimate public interest and therefore not protected by common-law privacy must be determined on a case-by-case basis. See Open Records Decision No. 373 (1983). This office has found that some kinds of medical information or information indicating disabilities or specific illnesses are excepted from required public disclosure under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 470 (1987) (illness from severe emotional and job-related stress), 455 (1987) (prescription drugs, illnesses, operations, and physical handicaps). Upon review, we agree that the information you have marked is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public concern. Therefore, the department must withhold the information you have marked pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

You contend portions of the information at issue are excepted under section 552.117 of the Government Code. Section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure the current and former home addresses and telephone numbers, social security number, and family member information of a peace officer, 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. Accordingly, the department must withhold the information you have marked, as well as the additional information we have marked, under section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾

Section 552.136 of the Government Code states, "Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, 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." Gov't Code § 552.136(b); see also id. § 552.136(a) (defining "access device"). You inform us an employee's identification number is used in conjunction with one additional digit to form the city credit union bank account number. Thus, we find the department must withhold the identification number you have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code.

In summary: (1) the department must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy; (2) the department must withhold the information you have marked, as well as the additional information we have marked, under section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code; and (3) the department must withhold the employee identification numbers you have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code. The department must release the remaining information at issue.

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,

Lindsay E. Hale

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

LEH/em

Ref: ID# 405958

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. This letter ruling assumes that the submitted representative sample of information is truly representative of the requested information as a whole. This ruling does not reach, and therefore does not authorize, the withholding of any other requested information to the extent that the other information is substantially different than that submitted to this office. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(e)(1)(D), .302; Open Records Decision Nos. 499 at 6 (1988), 497 at 4 (1988).

2. We note the previous determination issued in Open Records Decision No. 670 (2001) authorizes all governmental bodies to withhold the current and former home addresses and telephone numbers, personal cellular telephone and pager numbers, social security numbers, and family member information of peace officers under section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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