March 3, 2011

Ms. Laura Garza Jimenez

Nueces County Attorney

County of Nueces

901 Leopard, Room 207

Corpus Christi, Texas 78401-3680

OR2011-03041

Dear Ms. Jimenez:

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# 414758.

The Nueces County Judge (the "county") received a request for any complaints or reports made to or by the health department during a specified time period related to a particular location. You claim some of the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 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 protected by the informer's privilege, which has long been recognized by Texas courts. See Aguilar v. State, 444 S.W.2d 935, 937 (Tex. Crim. App. 1969); Hawthorne v. State, 10 S.W.2d 724, 725 (Tex. Crim. App. 1928). The informer's privilege protects the identities of individuals who report violations of statutes to the police or similar law-enforcement agencies, as well as those who report violations of statutes with civil or criminal penalties to "administrative officials having a duty of inspection or of law enforcement within their particular spheres." Open Records Decision No. 279 at 2 (1981) (citing 8 John H. Wigmore, Evidence in Trials at Common Law, § 2374, at 767 (J. McNaughton rev. ed. 1961)). However, the informer's privilege does not apply where the informant's identity is known to the individual who is the subject of the complaint. See Open Records Decision No. 208 at 1-2 (1978). The informer's privilege protects the content of the communication only to the extent that it identifies the informant. See Open Records Decision No. 549 at 5 (1990).

You state the submitted information is related to complaints of alleged violations of the Code of Ordinances (the "code") of the City of Corpus Christi (the "city") made to the city's health department, which you explain has the authority to investigate and enforce the ordinances. You state there are criminal penalties for violation of these ordinances under section 23-75 of the code. There is no indication the subject of the complaint knows the identity of the complainant in the submitted information. Therefore, based on your representations and our review of the submitted information, we conclude the county may withhold the information you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with the informer's privilege. The remaining information must be released to the requestor.

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,

Ana Carolina Vieira

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

ACV/eeg

Ref: ID# 414758

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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