January 18, 2011

Ms. J. Middlebrooks

Assistant City Attorney

Criminal Law and Police Section

City of Dallas

1400 South Lamar

Dallas, Texas 75215

OR2011-00780

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# 406124 (PIR# 2010-9945).

The Dallas Police Department (the "department") received a request for all internal affairs records related to administrative investigation control number 2010-134. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 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⁾

It appears you have redacted witnesses' races, sexes, ages, home addresses, business addresses, and other identifying information in part of an arrest report. Pursuant to section 552.301 of the Government Code, a governmental body that seeks to withhold requested information must submit to this office a copy of the information, labeled to indicate which exceptions apply to which parts of the copy, unless the governmental body has received a previous determination for the information at issue. Gov't Code §§ 552.301(a), .301(e)(1)(D). You do not assert, nor does our review of our records indicate, that you have been authorized to withhold any of the redacted information without seeking a ruling from this office. See id. § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 (2000). As such, these types of information must be submitted in a manner that enables this office to determine whether the information comes within the scope of an exception to disclosure. In this instance, we can discern the nature of the redacted information; thus, being deprived of that information does not inhibit our ability to make a ruling. In the future, however, the department should refrain from redacting any information it submits to this office in seeking an open records ruling.

You seek to withhold the submitted peace officer accident reports that appear to have been completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). 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 other statutes make confidential, such as section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code, which states, except as provided by subsection (c) or subsection (e), accident reports are privileged for the confidential use of certain specified entities. See Transp. Code § 550.065(b). Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of accident reports to a person who provides two of the following three pieces of information: (1) the date of the accident; (2) the name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) the specific location of the accident. Id. § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, a governmental entity is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides two or more pieces of information specified by the statute. Id. In this instance, the requestor has not provided the department with at least two of the three items of information specified by section 550.065(c)(4). Therefore, the department must withhold the submitted accident reports pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code.

Section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure the home addresses, home telephone numbers, and social security number of a peace officer, as well as information that reveals whether the peace officer has family members, regardless of whether the peace officer complies with sections 552.024 and 552.1175 of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾ Gov't Code § 552.117(a)(2). You have marked in the remaining information the named officer's personal information. Thus, the department must withhold this information, and the additional personal information we have marked, under section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code.

You claim some of the remaining information is excepted under section 552.130 of the Government Code, which provides information relating to a motor vehicle operator's license, driver's license, motor vehicle title, or registration issued by a Texas agency is excepted from public release. Id. § 552.130(a)(1), (2). You have marked a Texas license plate number and expiration year, which the department must withhold under section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽³⁾

You assert some of the remaining information is excepted under section 552.136 of the Government Code, which provides "[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 seek to withhold the employee identification number of the officer whose information is at issue under section 552.136. 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 department must withhold the employee identification number you have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code.

In summary, the department must withhold the submitted peace officer accident reports pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code; the marked personal information under section 552.117(a)(2) of the Government Code; the marked Texas license plate number and expiration year under section 552.130 of the Government Code; and the marked employee identification number under section 552.136 of the Government Code. The remaining 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,

Leah B. Wingerson

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

LBW/dls

Ref: ID# 406124

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We assume the "representative sample" of records 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 those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.

2. "Peace officer" is defined by Article 2.12 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

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

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