February 11, 2011

Ms. Traci Graham

Administrative Assistant

Commissioners' Court of Taylor County

300 Oak Street

Abilene, Texas 79602

OR2011-02137

Dear Ms. Graham:

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# 407563.

Taylor County (the "county") received a request for information relating to the personnel file of a named individual. You state the county will release some of the requested information. We understand the county has redacted an address and social security number under section 552.117 of the Government Code pursuant to section 552.024 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ We also understand you to claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾ We have considered the exception 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 statutes such as section 301.081 of the Labor Code, which governs the release of employment information held by the Texas Workforce Commission (the "commission"). Section 301.081 provides in pertinent part as follows:

(a) Each employing unit shall keep employment records containing information as prescribed by the commission and as necessary for the proper administration of this title. The records are open to inspection and may be copied by the commission or an authorized representative of the commission at any reasonable time and as often as necessary.

(b) The commission may require from an employing unit sworn or unsworn reports regarding persons employed by the employing unit as necessary for the effective administration of this title.

(c) Employment information obtained or otherwise secured under this section may not be published and is not open to public inspection, other than to a public employee in the performance of public duties, except as the commission considers necessary for the proper administration of this title or as provided by commission rule and consistent with federal law.

Labor Code § 301.081(a)-(c). You state the submitted documents consist of unemployment hearing records, some of which the county received from the commission. Upon our review, we find you have failed to demonstrate how the information at issue constitutes employment records maintained by the county containing information as prescribed by the commission or as necessary for the proper administration of title 4 of the Labor Code. Thus, we conclude that section 301.081 is not applicable and the county may not withhold the information at issue under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 301.081 of the Labor Code. As you raise no other exceptions to disclosure, the county must release the 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,

Lauren E. Kleine

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

LEK/em

Ref: ID# 407563

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. See Gov't Code §§552.117(a)(1), .024(c)(2) (if current or former employee or official elects to not allow public access to his or her personal information, governmental body may redact information without necessity of requesting decision from this office).

2. Although you raise section 552.021 of the Government Code, we note that this provision is not an exception to disclosure under the Act. See Gov't Code § 552.021 (providing that public information is available during normal business hours). Information confidential by law is excepted by section 552.101 of the Government Code, thus, we will address your claim under section 552.101.

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