January 24, 2012

Mr. Tim Daniels

Daniels & Daniels

11120 Wurzbach Road, Suite 301

San Antonio, Texas 78230

OR2012-01108

Dear Mr. Daniels:

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# 443328.

The Knox City Housing Authority (the "authority"), which you represent, received a request for seventeen categories of information pertaining to (a) the authority's processes, policies, programs, services, and procedures; (b) handicap accessible units; (c) waiting lists for a specified period of time; and (d) specified reports, evaluations, inspections, and plans. You claim 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. ⁽¹⁾

Initially, we note you have submitted a representative sample of the requested waiting lists, but not any information responsive to the other requested categories information. We assume that, to the extent any information responsive to the other requested categories of information existed when you received the request for information, the authority has released it to the requestor. If not, then the authority must do so immediately. See Gov't Code §§ 552.006, 552.301, 552.302; Open Records Decision No. 664 (2000).

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. Common-law privacy 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). The type 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. This office has found that 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 that a compilation of a private citizen's criminal history is generally not of legitimate concern to the public.

Upon review, we find the information you have marked and the information we have marked is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public concern. Therefore, the authority must withhold the information you have marked and the information we have marked pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. ⁽²⁾ You do not claim any exceptions to disclosure of the remaining information. Thus, 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,

Jennifer Luttrall

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JL/dls

Ref: ID# 443328

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We assume the "representative sample" of records submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent that those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.

2. As our ruling is dispositive for the marked information, we do not address your remaining argument against its disclosure.

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