July 11, 2011

Ms. Amy Currier

Public Information Officer

Texas Funeral Service Commission

P.O. Box 12217

Austin, Texas 78711

OR2011-09793

Dear Ms. Currier:

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# 423397.

The Texas Funeral Services Commission (the "commission") received a request for all records pertaining to complaints and investigations related to two named individuals and a specified business. ⁽¹⁾ 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 representative sample of information. ⁽²⁾

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 651.203 of the Occupations Code, which provides "[i]nformation in a [complaint file maintained by the commission], other than information relating to a complaint that has not reached a final disposition, is public information." Occ. Code § 651.203(b). We conclude this language makes information relating to a complaint that has not reached a final disposition confidential. You state the submitted information relates to an open complaint that has not reached a final disposition. Based upon your representation and our review of the information at issue, we conclude the commission must withhold the submitted information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 651.203(b) of the Occupations Code.

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,

Nneka Kanu

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

NK/em

Ref: ID# 423397

Enc. Submitted documents

cc: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note the commission sought and received clarification of the instant request from the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.222(b) (governmental body may communicate with the requestor for purpose of clarifying or narrowing request for information).

2. We assume the "representative sample" of records submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.

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