February 2, 2011

Mr. C. Patrick Phillips

Assistant City Attorney

City of Fort Worth

1000 Throckmorton Street, 3^rd Floor

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

OR2011-01687

Dear Mr. Phillips:

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# 411998 (PIR # W005876).

The City of Fort Worth (the "city") received a request for information related to four named individuals, two addresses, and a specified case. You state you have redacted Texas motor vehicle record information relating to individuals other than the requestor under section 552.130 of the Government Code pursuant to previous determinations issued to the city. ⁽¹⁾ You have redacted social security numbers pursuant to section 552.147 of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾ You claim that 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 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. A compilation of an individual's criminal history is highly embarrassing information, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person. Cf. U. S. Dep't of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 764 (1989) (finding significant privacy interest in compilation of individual's criminal history by recognizing distinction between public records found in courthouse files and local police stations and compiled summary of criminal history information). Furthermore, we find a compilation of a private citizen's criminal history is generally not of legitimate concern to the public.

In part, the present request requires the city to compile unspecified police records concerning the named individuals. Therefore, to the extent the city maintains unspecified law enforcement records depicting the named individuals as suspects, arrestees, or criminal defendants, the city must withhold such information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

However, we note that the requestor also seeks information related to a specified case. This information does not implicate the named individuals' common-law privacy concerns. Therefore, we will address your claimed exceptions for this information.

Section 552.101 also encompasses information protected by other statutes, such as section 58.007 of the Family Code, which makes confidential juvenile law enforcement records relating to conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997. The relevant language of section 58.007 reads:

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be:

(1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records;

(2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and

(3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapters B, D, and E.

Fam. Code § 58.007(c). For purposes of section 58.007, "child" means a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age at the time of the reported conduct. See id. § 51.02(2). Report number 10-90332 pertains to juvenile delinquent conduct. See id. §§ 51.03(a) (defining "juvenile delinquent conduct" for the purposes of section 58.007), .03(b)(2) (defining "conduct indicating a need for supervision" to include a child's voluntary absence from their home without the parent or guardian's consent for a substantial length of time or without intent to return). It does not appear any of the exceptions in section 58.007 of the Family Code apply. Therefore, we find report number 10-90332, along with its related call sheet, incident report, and audio recordings, is confidential pursuant to section 58.007(c) of the Family Code and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code.

In summary, to the extent the city maintains unspecified law enforcement records depicting the named individuals as suspects, arrestees, or criminal defendants, the city must withhold such information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. The city must withhold report number 10-90332, along with its related call sheet, incident report, and audio recordings, under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007(c) of the Family Code. ⁽³⁾

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,

Cindy Nettles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CN/dls

Ref: ID# 411998

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. See Open Records Letter Nos. 2006-14726 (2006) and 2007-00198 (2007); see also Gov't Code § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 at 7-8 (2001).

2. 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.

3. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address your remaining arguments against disclosure.

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