January 13, 2012

Ms. Judith N. Benton

Assistant City Attorney

City of Waco

P.O. Box 2570

Waco, Texas 76702-2570

OR2012-00682

Dear Ms. Benton:

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# 442745 (Waco Reference #: LGL-11-1565).

The City of Waco (the "city") received a request for a specified incident report and 9-1-1 recording. You claim that 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.

Initially, we note the submitted information includes the telephone number of a 9-1-1 caller. In Open Records Letter No. 2011-15629 (2011), this office issued a previous determination to the city authorizing the city to withhold the originating telephone number and address of a 9-1-1 caller furnished to the city 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 without requesting a decision from this office. See Gov't Code § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (listing elements of second type of previous determination under section 552.301(a) of the Government Code). We understand the telephone number in the submitted information to be the originating telephone number of a 9-1-1 caller furnished by a service supplier established in accordance with chapter 772. As such, the city must withhold the telephone number, which you have marked, in accordance with the previous determination issued to the city in Open Records Letter No. 2011-15629.

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 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). This office has found 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) (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 a compilation of a private citizen's criminal history is generally not of legitimate concern to the public. However, information relating to an individual's current involvement in the criminal justice system does not constitute criminal history information for the purposes of section 552.101. See Gov't Code § 441.081(b) (police department allowed to disclose information pertaining to person's current involvement in the criminal justice system). Upon review, we find the information you have marked on page three of the incident report relates to the individual's current involvement in the criminal justice system. Therefore, the city may not withhold this information under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy.

Finally, section 552.130(a)(2) of the Government Code provides that information relating to a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state, or another state or country, is excepted from public release. 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(a)(2)). The city must withhold the motor vehicle record information you have marked, in addition to the information we have marked, under section 552.130(a)(2). 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,

Kathryn R. Mattingly

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

KRM/som

Ref: ID# 442745

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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