March 15, 2011

Ms. Zeena Angadicheril

Office of General Counsel

The University of Texas System

201 West Seventh Street

Austin, Texas 78701

OR2011-03540

Dear Ms. Angadicheril:

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# 411333 (OGC# 134652).

The University of Texas at San Antonio (the "university") received a request for the police report concerning a specified incident. You have redacted a social security number pursuant to section 552.147 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ You state that some responsive information has been released to the requestor, but claim the marked portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Initially, we note the submitted information contains a CR-3 accident report form completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). Section 550.065(b) states that, except as provided by subsection (c) or subsection (e), accident reports are privileged and confidential. Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of accident reports to a person who provides two of the following three pieces of information: (1) the date of the accident; (2) the name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) the specific location of the accident. Id. § 550.065(c)(4). In this instance, the requestor has provided the university with the requisite pieces of information specified by the statute. Accordingly, the requestor in this instance has a statutory right of access to the submitted accident report pursuant to section 550.065(c)(4).

You assert that portions of the submitted CR-3 crash report are confidential under section 552.130 of the Government Code. A statutory right of access generally prevails over the Act's general exceptions to disclosure. See Open Records Decision Nos. 623 at 3 (1994) (exceptions in Act in applicable to information that statutes expressly make public), 613 at 4 (1993) (exceptions in Act cannot impinge on statutory right of access to information), 451 (1986) (specific statutory right of access provisions overcome general exception to disclosure under the Act). However, because section 552.130 has its own access provisions, we conclude that section 552.130 is not a general exception under the Act. Accordingly, we must address the conflict between the access provided under section 550.065 of the Transportation Code and the confidentiality provided under section 552.130 of the Government Code. Where information falls within both a general and a specific provision of law, the specific provision prevails over the general. See Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corp. v. Auld, 34 S.W.3d 887, 901 (Tex. 2000) ("more specific statute controls over the more general"); Cuellar v. State, 521 S.W.2d 277 (Tex. Crim. App. 1975) (under well-established rule of statutory construction, specific statutory provisions prevail over general ones); Open Records Decision Nos. 598 (1991), 583 (1990), 451 (1986). In this instance, section 550.065 specifically provides access only to accident reports of the type at issue in this request, while section 552.130 generally excepts Texas motor vehicle record information maintained in any context. Thus, we conclude that the access to accident reports provided under section 550.065 of the Transportation Code is more specific than the general confidentiality provided under section 552.130. Accordingly, the university may not withhold any portion of the accident report under section 552.130. Therefore, the university must release the submitted CR-3 accident report form in its entirety pursuant to section 550.065(c)(4) of the Transportation Code.

Section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code 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 claiming section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You have provided us with a representation from the chief of the university's police department stating that the information at issue relates to an ongoing criminal investigation. Based on this representation and our review, we conclude that release of the information at issue would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. 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., 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). Therefore, the university may withhold the information you have marked in the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾

In summary, the university must release the submitted CR-3 accident report form in its entirety pursuant to section 550.065(c)(4) of the Transportation Code. The university may withhold the information you have marked under section 552.108(a)(1) 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,

Jonathan Miles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JM/em

Ref: ID# 411333

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Section 552.147(b) 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.

2. As we are able to make this determination, we do not address your remaining claims for this information.

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