April 4, 2011

Ms. Jennifer C. Cohen

Assistant General Counsel

Texas Department of Public Safety

P.O. Box 4087

Austin, Texas 78773-0001

OR2011-04581

Dear Ms. Cohen:

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# 417697 (DPS ORA #11-0512).

The Texas Department of Public Safety (the "department") received a request for information pertaining to a specified fatality accident. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

You inform us the requested information was the subject of a previous request for information, in response to which this office issued Open Records Letter No. 2011-00406 (2011). In that ruling, we found, with the exception of basic information, the department may withhold the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. We conclude, as we have no indication that the law, facts, and circumstances on which the prior ruling was based have changed, the department may continue to rely on that ruling as a previous determination and withhold or release the submitted information in accordance with Open Records Letter No. 2011-00406. See Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (so long as law, facts, and circumstances on which prior ruling was based have not changed, first type of previous determination exists where requested information is precisely same information as was addressed in a prior attorney general ruling, ruling is addressed to same governmental body, and ruling concludes that information is or is not excepted from disclosure).

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# 417697

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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