January 30, 2012

Ms. Tiffany Bull

Assistant City Attorney

Arlington Police Department

P.O. Box 1065

Arlington, Texas 76004-1065

OR2012-01447

Dear Ms. Bull:

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# 448326 (Ref. No. 6241).

The Arlington Police Department (the "department") received a request for information related to case number 110004402. You state some responsive information will be made available to the requestor. You claim 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.

The submitted information consists of a crash report that was completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). Section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code states that except as provided by subsection (c) or (e), accident reports are privileged and confidential. ⁽¹⁾ See id. § 550.065(b). Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for release of an accident report to a person who provides two of the following three items of information: (1) the date of the accident; (2) the name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) the specific location of the accident. See id. § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, a governmental entity is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides the governmental entity with two or more of the items of information specified by the statute. Id. In this instance, the requestor has not provided the department with two of the three specified items of information. Therefore, the department must withhold the submitted crash report under section 552.101 of the Government Code pursuant to section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code.

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,

Cindy Nettles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CN/dls

Ref: ID# 448326

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential.

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