September 16, 2011

Ms. Monica Hernandez

Assistant City Attorney

City of San Antonio

P.O. Box 839966

San Antonio, Texas 78283-3966

OR2011-13449

Dear Ms. Hernandez:

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# 430220 (COSA File No. W001997).

The City of San Antonio (the "city") received a request for any documents relating to pet licenses for any animals the City Manager has owned since taking office. You claim that 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. We have also considered comments submitted by the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.304 (interested party may submit written comments regarding availability of requested information).

Initially, we address the requestor's assertion the city failed to comply with the procedural requirements of the Act. Section 552.301 describes the procedural obligations placed on a governmental body that receives a written request for information it wishes to withhold. Pursuant to section 552.301(b), the governmental body must ask for the attorney general's decision and state the exceptions that apply within ten business days after receiving the request. See id. § 552.301(a), (b). This office does not count any holidays observed by a governmental body that receives a request for information as business days for the purpose of calculating that governmental body's deadlines under the Act. In this instance, the city states the request for information was e-mailed at 10:27 p.m. on June 28, 2011; which is after the city's business day concluded. Therefore, the city states it received the request on June 29, 2011. You state July 4, 2011 was a city holiday. Thus, the city's ten-business-day deadline to request an open records ruling was July 14, 2011. The city's request for a ruling was sent by mail and postmarked on July 14, 2011. See id. § 552.308 (describing rules for calculating submission dates of documents sent via first class United States mail, common or contract carrier, or interagency mail). Consequently, we conclude the city complied with section 552.301(b) in requesting a ruling from this office.

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 section encompasses information other statutes make confidential. You claim the information you have marked is confidential under section 826.0311 of the Health and Safety Code. Section 826.0311(a) provides in relevant part:

(a) Information that is contained in a municipal or county registry of dogs and cats under Section 826.031 that identifies or tends to identify the owner or an address, telephone number, or other personally identifying information of the owner of the registered dog or cat is confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code. The information contained in the registry may not include the social security number or the driver's license number of the owner of the registered animal.

(b) The information may be disclosed only to a governmental entity or a person that, under a contract with a governmental entity, provides animal control services or animal registration services for the governmental entity for purposes related to the protection of public health and safety. A governmental entity or person that receives the information must maintain the confidentiality of the information, may not disclose the information under Chapter 552, Government Code, and may not use the information for a purpose that does not directly relate to the protection of public health and safety.

Health & Safety Code § 826.0311(a), (b). Section 826.0311 only applies to the actual pet registry; it is not applicable to the contents of other records, even though those documents may contain the same information as the pet registry. See Open Records Decision No. 649 at 3 (1996) (language of confidentiality provision controls scope of its protection); see also Open Records Decision Nos. 658 at 4 (1998), 478 at 2 (1987). You state the submitted information consists of printouts from the city's dog and cat registry. The requestor is not a governmental entity or person who is requesting the information for public health and safety purposes. Thus, the city must withhold the information you have marked, which consists of the owner's identifying information, under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 826.0311(a) of the Health and Safety Code.

You claim the remaining information is excepted from disclosure under common-law privacy, which is also encompassed by section 552.101 of the Government Code. Common-law privacy protects information if it (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). To demonstrate the applicability of common-law privacy, both prongs of this test must be satisfied. Id. at 681-82. The types of information considered intimate or 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. Upon review, we find that the remaining information you have marked is not highly intimate or embarrassing. Therefore, the city may not withhold the remaining information pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

In summary, the city must withhold the information you have marked, which consists of the owner's identifying information, under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 826.0311(a) of the Health and Safety 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,

Sean Opperman

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

SO/sdk

Ref: ID# 430220

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer