February 1, 2011

Ms. Lisa D. Mares

Taylor Olson Adkins Sralla Elam L.L.P.

6000 Western Place Suite 200

Fort Worth, Texas 76107-4654

OR2011-01664

Dear Ms. Mares:

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# 411862.

The City of Southlake (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for information relating to a specified arrest. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

We note the submitted information includes the results of an analysis of a blood specimen, which we have marked. Section 724.018 of the Transportation Code provides that on the request of the person who has given a specimen at the request of a peace officer, full information concerning the analysis of the specimen must be made available to the person or the person's attorney. As a general rule, the exceptions to disclosure found in the Act do not apply to information other statutes make public. See Open Records Decision Nos. 623 at 3 (1994), 525 at 3 (1989). In this instance, the requestor is the person who gave the specimen at the request of a peace officer. Therefore, the marked results of the analysis of the blood specimen must be released to this requestor pursuant to section 724.018 of the Transportation Code.

We also note section 552.022 of the Government Code is applicable to some of the submitted information. Section 552.022(a)(17) provides for required public disclosure of "information that is also contained in a public court record," unless the information is expressly confidential under other law. Gov't Code § 552.022(a)(17). We have marked court documents that are subject to section 552.022(a)(17). Although you seek to withhold the court documents under section 552.108 of the Government Code, that section is a discretionary exception to disclosure that protects a governmental body's interests and may be waived. See id. § 552.007; Open Records Decision Nos. 665 at 2 n.5 (2000) (discretionary exceptions generally), 177 at 3 (1977) (statutory predecessor to Gov't Code § 552.108 subject to waiver). As such, section 552.108 is not other law that makes information expressly confidential for purposes of section 552.022(a)(17). Therefore, the marked court documents may not be withheld under section 552.108 and must be released.

Next, we address your claim under section 552.108 of the Government Code for the rest of the submitted information. Section 552.108(a)(1) excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). A governmental body must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state release of the remaining information would interfere with a pending criminal case. Based on your representations, we conclude section 552.108(a)(1) is generally applicable to the remaining information. 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 the remaining information includes a statutory warning and a notice of suspension, which we have marked. Because copies of those documents are provided to the person who is the subject of the warning and the notice, we find 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 statutory warning and the notice of suspension may not be withheld under section 552.108.

We also note section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Id. § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic front-page information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88. The city must release basic offense and arrest information, including a detailed description of the offense, even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. ⁽¹⁾ See Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). Except for basic information, the statutory warning, and the notice of suspension, the city may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(1).

In summary: (1) the marked results of the analysis of the blood specimen must be released to this requestor pursuant to section 724.018 of the Transportation Code; (2) the marked court documents must be released pursuant to section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code; (3) the city may withhold the rest of the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code, except for the statutory warning, the notice of suspension, and the basic offense and arrest information that must be released under section 552.108(c); and (4) the marked statutory warning and notice of suspension must be released. As we are able to make these determinations, we need not address the other exception you claim. ⁽²⁾

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,

James W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/em

Ref: ID# 411862

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note basic information includes the arrested person's social security number. Section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental 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. The requestor has a right, however, to his own social security number. See generally Gov't Code § 552.023(b) (governmental body may not deny access to person to whom information relates, or that person's representative, solely on grounds that information is considered confidential by privacy principles).

2. We note the statutory warning and the notice of suspension contain the arrested person's Texas driver's license information, which the city would ordinarily be required to withhold under section 552.130 of the Government Code. Because section 552.130 protects personal privacy, the requestor has a right of access to his own Texas driver's license information under section 552.023 of the Government Code. See Gov't Code § 552.023(a); Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987). Should the city receive another request for these same records from a person who would not have a right of access to this requestor's private information, the city should resubmit these records and request another ruling. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(a), .302.

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer