January 11, 2012

Ms. Elizabeth L. White

Ross, Banks, May, Cron & Cavin, P.C.

2 Riverway, Suite 700

Houston, Texas 77056

OR2012-00552

Dear Ms. White:

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# 441949.

The City of League City (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for police records pertaining to the requestor over a specified time period. You state the city has released some of the requested information. You claim some of the submitted information is 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 section encompasses the doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information that (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). 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. U.S. Dep't of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 764 (1989) (finding significant privacy interest in compilation of individual's criminal history by recognizing distinction between public records found in courthouse files and local police stations and compiled summary of criminal history information). You assert Exhibit A-1 implicates the requestor's privacy as a compilation of his criminal history. You contend this information is confidential under common-law privacy. Section 552.023 of the Government Code provides that "[a] person or a person's authorized representative has a special right of access, beyond the right of the general public, to information held by a governmental body that relates to the person and that is protected from public disclosure by laws intended to protect that person's privacy interests." See Gov't Code § 552.023(a); see also id. § 552.023(b) (governmental body may not deny access to person to whom information relates, or that person's representative, solely on the grounds that information is considered confidential by privacy principles); Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individual or individual's authorized representative requests information concerning the individual). Thus, in this instance, the requestor has a special right of access to his information pursuant to section 552.023, and the city may not withhold Exhibit A-1 under section 552.101 based on the requestor's privacy interests.

You also contend Exhibit A-1 should be withheld in its entirety based upon the privacy interests of the victim. We note that, generally, only highly intimate information that implicates the privacy of an individual is withheld. However, in certain instances, where it is demonstrated that the requestor knows the identity of the individual at issue and the nature of the incident, the entire report must be withheld to protect the individual's privacy. In this instance, although you seek to withhold Exhibit A-1 in its entirety, you have not demonstrated, nor does it otherwise appear, this is a situation where the entirety of Exhibit A-1 must be withheld on the basis of common-law privacy. You also assert the information you have marked in Exhibit A-1, consisting of the victim's address, gender, and pseudonym, is subject to common-law privacy. We note home addresses of individuals are generally not protected by common-law privacy under section 552.101. See Open Records Decision Nos. 554 at 3 (1990) (public disclosure of an individual's home address and telephone number is not an invasion of privacy), 455 at 7 (home addresses and telephone numbers do not qualify as "intimate aspects of human affairs"). Upon review, we find you have failed to demonstrate how the information you have marked is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public interest. Therefore, the city may not withhold any portion of Exhibit A-1 under section 552.101 based on the victim's privacy interests.

You assert the information you have marked in Exhibit A-1 is subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. Section 552.130 excepts from disclosure information that relates to a motor vehicle operator's license or driver's license or a motor vehicle title or registration issued by a Texas agency, or an agency of another state or country. See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). The information you have marked does not consist of motor vehicle record information and you may not withhold it under section 552.130 of the Government Code. As you raise no other exceptions, the submitted information must be released to this requestor. ⁽¹⁾

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,

Jennifer Luttrall

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JL/dls

Ref: ID# 441949

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note the information being released contains confidential information to which the requestor has a right of access. See Gov't Code § 552.023(a); Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individual or authorized representative asks governmental body to provide information concerning that individual). Thus, if the city receives another request for this particular information from a different requestor, then the city should again seek a decision from this office.

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