September 8, 2011

Ms. Lillian Guillen Graham

Assistant City Attorney

City of Mesquite

P.O. Box 850137

Mesquite, Texas 75185-0137

OR2011-12957

Dear Ms. Graham:

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# 430277.

The Mesquite Police Department (the "department") received a request for the call sheet for service number 11066877. You claim portions of the requested information are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions 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. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential. Chapter 772 of the Health and Safety Code authorizes the development of local emergency communication districts. Sections 772.118, 772.218 and 772.318 are applicable to emergency 911 districts established in accordance with chapter 772. See Open Records Decision No. 649 (199 6). These sections make originating telephone numbers and addresses of 911 callers furnished by a service supplier confidential. Id. at 2. Section 772.118 applies to an emergency communication district for a county with a population of more than two million. You inform us the City of Mesquite is part of an emergency communication district established under section 772.118. You state the telephone number you have marked was obtained from a 911 service supplier. Based on your representations, we conclude the department must withhold the marked telephone number under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 772.118 of the Health and Safety Code. ⁽¹⁾

You also claim section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy, which protects information that is highly intimate or embarrassing, such that its release would be highly objectionable to a person of ordinary sensibilities, and of no legitimate public interest. See Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). Common-law privacy encompasses certain types of personal financial information. This office has determined financial information relating only to an individual ordinarily satisfies the first element of the common-law privacy test, but the public has a legitimate interest in the essential facts about a financial transaction between an individual and a governmental body. See Open Records Decision Nos. 545 at 4 (1990) (attorney general has found kinds of financial information not excepted from public disclosure by common-law privacy to generally be those regarding receipt of governmental funds or debts owed to governmental entities), 523 at 4 (1989) (noting distinction under common-law privacy between confidential background financial information furnished to public body about individual and basic facts regarding particular financial transaction between individual and public body), 373 at 4 (1983) (determination of whether public's interest in obtaining personal financial information is sufficient to justify its disclosure must be made on case-by-case basis). We conclude the department must withhold the personal financial information you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating to a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state or another state or country. See Act of May 24, 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., S.B. 1638, § 4 (to be codified as an amendment to Gov't Code § 552.130). We conclude the department must withhold the motor vehicle information you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾

In summary, the department (1) must withhold the marked telephone number under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 772.118 of the Health and Safety Code; (2) must withhold the marked personal financial information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy; and (3) must withhold the marked motor vehicle information under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The department must release the remaining information.

You ask this office to issue a previous determination permitting the department to withhold telephone numbers of 911 callers under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 772.118 of the Health and Safety Code and lien information from call sheets under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. We decline to issue such a previous determination at this time. Accordingly, 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,

Tamara H. Holland

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

THH/em

Ref: ID# 430277

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As we are able to make this determination, we do not address your claim under section 771.061 of the Health and Safety Code.

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

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