June 1, 2011

Mr. Mark G. Mann

Assistant City Attorney

City of Garland

P.O. Box 469002

Garland, Texas 75046-9002

OR2011-07722

Dear Mr. Mann:

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# 421511 (GCA 11-0289).

The Garland Police Department (the "department") received a request for information relating to two specified arrests. You state some of the requested information has been released. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

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. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential. You claim section 552.101 in conjunction with section 418.182 of the Government Code, which was added to chapter 418 of the Government Code as part of the Texas Homeland Security Act. Section 418.182 provides in part:

(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c), information, including access codes and passwords, in the possession of a governmental entity that relates to the specifications, operating procedures, or location of a security system used to protect public or private property from an act of terrorism or related criminal activity is confidential.

Id. § 418.182(a). The fact information may generally be related to a security system does not make the information per se confidential under section 418.182. See Open Records Decision No. 649 at 3 (1996) (language of confidentiality provision controls scope of its protection). Furthermore, the mere recitation by a governmental body of a statute's key terms is not sufficient to demonstrate the applicability of a claimed provision. As with any confidentiality provision, a governmental body asserting section 418.182 must adequately explain how the responsive information falls within the scope of the statute. See Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(A) (governmental body must explain how claimed exception to disclosure applies).

You contend the submitted audio/video recordings are confidential under section 418.182. You explain these recordings were generated by security and video surveillance systems located in secured areas of the department's detention center. You state these systems are used, in part, for protection from criminals and criminal activities, including terrorist activities and criminal activities related to terrorism. You contend public disclosure of the submitted recordings would reveal the type of security equipment the department utilizes, the location and placement of the cameras, and other characteristics of the department's security and surveillance systems. Based on your representations and our review of the information at issue, we conclude the department must withhold the submitted information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 418.182(a) of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ See generally Tex. Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Abbott, 310 S.W.3d 670 (Tex. App.--Austin 2010, no pet.) (case construing section 418.182 of the HSA, which ruled recorded images necessarily relate to specifications of security system that recorded them).

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,

James W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/em

Ref: ID# 421511

Enc: Submitted information

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As we are able to make these determinations, we need not address your other arguments against disclosure.

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