November 18, 2011

Mr. Benjamin Sampract

Assistant City Attorney

City of Fort Worth

1000 Throckmorton Street, Third Floor

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

OR2011-17063

Dear Mr. Sampract:

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# 436450 (Fort Worth PIA# W011352).

The Fort Worth Police Department (the "department") received a request for information related to a specified incident. We understand the department has redacted Texas driver's license numbers from the submitted information under section 552.130 of the Government Code pursuant to Open Records Letter No. 2006-14726 (2006). ⁽¹⁾ You claim that some of 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. Section 552.101 encompasses the common-law right of privacy, which protects information that is (1) highly intimate or embarrassing, such that its release would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) not of legitimate concern to the public. See Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668 (Tex. 1976). To demonstrate the applicability of common-law privacy, both prongs of this test must be established. 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. See id. at 683. Upon review, we find that portions of the information at issue are highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public concern. Thus, the department must withhold the information we have marked pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. However, we find no portion of the remaining information is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public concern. Accordingly, no portion of the remaining information may be withheld under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. As no further exceptions are raised, 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,

Vanessa Burgess

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

VB/dls

Ref: ID# 436450

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Open Records Letter No. 2006-14726 is a previous determination to the city authorizing it to withhold Texas driver's license numbers, Texas-issued state identification numbers, Texas license plate numbers, and Texas license years of motor vehicles under section 552.130 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision. However, as of September 1, 2011, section 552.130 allows a governmental body to redact the information described in subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3) without the necessity of seeking a decision from the attorney general. See Act of May 30, 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., S.B. 602, § 22 (to be codified at Gov't Code § 552.130(c)). If a governmental body redacts such information, it must notify the requestor in accordance with section 552.130(e). See Act of May 30, 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., S.B. 602, § 22 (to be codified at Gov't Code § 552.130(d), (e)). Thus, the statutory amendments to section 552.130 of the Government Code supercedes Open Records Letter No. 2006-14726. Therefore, the department may only redact information subject to subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3) in accordance with section 552.130, not Open Records Letter Nos. 2006-14726.

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