January 28, 2011

Ms. T. Trisha Dang

Assistant City Attorney

City of Corpus Christi

P.O. Box 9277

Corpus Christi, Texas 78469-9277

OR2011-01522

Dear Ms. Dang:

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# 407551.

The Corpus Christi Police Department (the "department") received a request for information pertaining to a specified incident. You claim the submitted information is 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 the doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information that (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). The type of information considered intimate or 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. Additionally, this office has found 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) (information pertaining to illness from severe emotional and job-related stress protected by common-law privacy), 455 (1987) (information pertaining to prescription drugs, specific illnesses, operations and procedures, and physical disabilities protected from disclosure). Upon review, we find the information we have marked constitutes highly intimate or embarrassing information that is not of legitimate public concern. Thus, the department must withhold the marked information under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. However, you have not demonstrated how the remaining information is highly intimate or embarrassing. Thus, no portion of the remaining information is confidential under common-law privacy, and it may not be withheld on that basis.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code provides that information relating to a motor vehicle operator''s license or driver's license issued by a Texas agency is excepted from public release. Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). Accordingly, the department must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾

In summary, the department must withhold the marked information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. The department must withhold information you have marked under section 552.130 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,

Paige Lay

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

PL/vb

Ref: ID# 407551

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. 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 driver's license numbers under section 552.130 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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