June 21, 2011

Ms. Melissa A. Vidal

Assistant City Attorney

Office of the City Attorney

City of Laredo

P.O. Box 579

Laredo, Texas 78042-0579

OR2011-08837

Dear Ms. Vidal:

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# 422477.

The City of Laredo (the "city") received a request for the complaint made against a named individual employed by a specified taxi company, the name(s) of the staff members who observed the violation, the name of the unlicensed taxi driver, and the dates of both occurrences. 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.

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. You raise section 552.101 in conjunction with the common-law informer's privilege, which Texas courts have long recognized. See Aguilar v. State, 444 S.W.2d 935, 937 (Tex. Crim. App. 1969). The informer's privilege protects from disclosure the identities of persons who report activities over which the governmental body has criminal or quasi-criminal law-enforcement authority, provided that the subject of the information does not already know the informer's identity. See Open Records Decision Nos. 515 at 3 (1988), 208 at 1-2 (1978). The 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." See Open Records Decision No. 279 at 2 (1981). The report must be of a violation of a criminal or civil statute. See Open Records Decision Nos. 582 at 2 (1990), 515 at 4-5. The privilege excepts the informer's statement only to the extent necessary to protect the informer's identity. See Open Records Decision No. 549 at 5 (1990).

You explain that the submitted information reveals the identity of an individual who reported a possible violation of the city's taxi cab permit holder ordinance to the city's Traffic Department, which has the authority to enforce the violation at issue. You also state that the submitted information discloses the personal information of the informer, and that the informer's statement provide specific details that would reveal his or her identity. However,

you do not indicate, nor does it appear, the subject of the complaint knows the identity of the individual who reported the violation to the city. Based upon your representations and our review, we conclude that the city may withhold the complainant's identifying information, which we have marked, under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with the common-law informer's privilege. 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,

Kirsten Brew

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

KB/em

Ref: ID# 422477

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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