January 4, 2012

Mr. Ronald J. Bounds

Assistant City Attorney

City of Corpus Christi

P.O. Box 9277

Corpus Christi, Texas 78469-9277

OR2012-00147

Dear Mr. Bounds:

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# 441199.

The Corpus Christi Police Department (the "department") received a request for all incident reports and calls for service to a specified location and all calls involving either of two named individuals for a specified time period. You state you will release some of the requested information with motor vehicle information redacted. ⁽¹⁾ You claim portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

We note you seek to withhold the telephone numbers and addresses of 9-1-1 callers. In Open Records Letter No. 2011-16393 (2011), we granted a previous determination authorizing the department to withhold an originating telephone number and address of a 9-1-1 caller furnished to the department by a service supplier established in accordance with chapter 772 of the Health and Safety Code under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 772.318 of the Health and Safety Code. See Open Records Decision No. 673 at 7-8 (2001) (listing elements of second type of previous determination under Gov't Code § 552.301 (a)). Provided that the originating telephone numbers and addresses of the 9-1-1 callers at issue were furnished to the department by a service supplier, the department must withhold the marked telephone numbers and addresses in accordance with the previous determination issued to the department in Open Records Letter No. 2011-16393.

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 doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information if (1) the information contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) the information 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. A compilation of an individual's criminal history is highly embarrassing information, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person. Cf. United States Dep't of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 764 (1989) (when considering prong regarding individual's privacy interest, court recognized distinction between public records found in courthouse files and local police stations and compiled summary of information and noted that individual has significant privacy interest in compilation of one's criminal history). Furthermore, we find that a compilation of a private citizen's criminal history is generally not of legitimate concern to the public.

The present request, in part, seeks incident reports and calls for service involving either of two named individuals. We find that this request for unspecified law enforcement records implicates the named individuals' right to privacy. Therefore, to the extent the department maintains law enforcement records depicting either of the named individuals as a suspect, arrestee, or criminal defendant, the department must withhold such information under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. We note, however, that you have submitted information in which the named individuals are not listed as suspects, arrestees, or criminal defendants. This information is not part of a criminal history compilation and, thus, does not implicate the named individuals' right to privacy. Accordingly, we will address your argument for this information.

Common-law privacy protects information other than criminal history compilations. The types of information considered intimate and 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 Indus. Found., 540 S.W.2d at 683. Upon review, we find the information you have marked, and the additional information we have marked, is highly intimate or embarrassing and of no legitimate public concern. Therefore, the marked information must be withheld under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy.

In summary, provided that the originating telephone numbers and addresses of the 9-1-1 callers at issue were furnished to the department by a service supplier, the department must withhold the marked telephone numbers and addresses in accordance with the previous determination issued to the department in Open Records Letter No. 2011-16393. To the extent the department maintains law enforcement records depicting the named individuals as suspects, arrestees, or criminal defendants, the department must withhold such information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. The department must withhold the information you have marked, and the additional information we have marked, under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. 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,

Jonathan Miles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JM/em

Ref: ID# 441199

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Open Records Decision No. 684 is a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including Texas driver's license and license plate numbers under section 552.130 of the Government Code without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision. However, on September 1, 2011, the Texas legislature amended section 552.130 to allow 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 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 id. § 552.130(d), (e). Thus, the statutory amendments to section 552.130 of the Government Code superceded Open Records Decision No. 684 on September 1, 2011. Therefore, a governmental body may only redact information subject to subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3) in accordance with section 552.130, not Open Records Decision No. 684.

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