June 1, 2011

Ms. Tiffany Bull

Assistant City Attorney

Arlington Police Department

P.O. Box 1065

Arlington, Texas 76004-1065

OR2011-07677

Dear Ms. Bull:

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# 419310 (APD Reference No. 3441).

The Arlington Police Department (the "department") received a request for information pertaining to three specified addresses from February 2009 to the date of the request. You claim 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.

Initially, we note you did not submit any information pertaining to one of the specified addresses for our review. You do not inform us whether you released this information, to the extent it exists. We assume, to the extent any additional information responsive to the instant request existed when the department received the request for information, you have released it to the requestor. If not, then you must do so at this time. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(a), .302; see also Open Records Decision No. 664 (2000) (if governmental body concludes that no exceptions apply to requested information, it must release information as soon as possible).

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 section 58.007(c) of the Family Code, which provides as follows:

(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). Juvenile law enforcement records relating to delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 are confidential under section 58.007. See id. § 51.03(a), (b) (defining "delinquent conduct" and "conduct indicating a need for supervision"). For purposes of section 58.007(c), "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. Id. § 51.02(2). You seek to withhold Exhibit B pursuant to section 58.007. Upon review, we find Exhibit B does not identify a juvenile suspect or offender for purposes of section 58.007. Accordingly, we find you have not demonstrated the applicability of section 58.007(c) to Exhibit B. Thus, you may not withhold any of Exhibit B under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 58.007.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code also encompasses the doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information that (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). The type of information considered intimate and embarrassing by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating to sexual assault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children, psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs. Id. at 683. This office has found some kinds of medical information or information indicating disabilities or specific illnesses are excepted from required public disclosure under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 470 (1987) (illness from severe emotional and job-related stress), 455 (1987) (prescription drugs, illnesses, operations, and physical handicaps).

You claim Exhibit C is confidential in its entirety under common-law privacy. Generally, only highly intimate information that implicates the privacy of an individual is withheld. However, in certain instances, where it is demonstrated the requestor knows the identity of the individual involved, as well as the nature of certain incidents, the information must be withheld in its entirety to protect the individual's privacy. In this instance, although you seek to withhold Exhibit C in its entirety, you have not demonstrated, nor does it otherwise appear, this is a situation in which the information at issue must be withheld in its entirety on the basis of common-law privacy. However, upon review, we have marked the portions of Exhibit C that are highly intimate or embarrassing and of no legitimate public interest. The department must withhold the information we marked under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy.

The remaining portions of Exhibit C contain Texas driver's license numbers that are subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ Section 552.130 excepts from disclosure information relating to a motor vehicle operator's license or driver's license issued by a Texas agency. Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). The department must withhold the Texas driver's license numbers we have marked in the remaining information under section 552.130. ⁽²⁾

In summary, the department must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy and section 552.130 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,

Ana Carolina Vieira

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

ACV/bs

Ref: ID# 419310

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. The Office of the Attorney General will raise a mandatory exception on behalf of a governmental body, but ordinarily will not raise other exceptions. See Open Records Decision Nos. 481 (1987), 480 (1987), 470 (1987).

2. We note this office issued Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including Texas driver's license numbers under section 552.130 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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