January 30, 2012

Mr. Robert L. Dillard III

Nichols, Jackson, Dillard, Hager & Smith, LLP

1800 Lincoln Plaza

500 North Akard Street

Dallas, Texas 75201

OR2012-01491

Dear Mr. Dillard:

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# 443729.

The City of Justin (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for (1) all records of Driving While Intoxicated arrests during a specified time frame, where a named officer was involved, (2) the identification of a civilian who was present during a specified ride-along with the named officer, and (3) all complaints and disciplinary measures involving the named officer. You indicate the city has no information responsive to category three of the request. ⁽¹⁾ You have redacted some information under section 552.147 of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾ You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.108, and 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽³⁾ We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

You argue category two of the request requires the city to answer questions or do research. The Act does not require a governmental body to answer general questions, perform legal research, or create information that did not exist when the request was received. See Econ. Opportunities Dev. Corp. v. Bustamante, 562 S.W.2d 266 (Tex. Civ. App.--San Antonio 1978, writ dism'd); Open Records Decision Nos. 605 at 2 (1992), 563 at 8 (1990), 555 at 1-2 (1990). However, a governmental body must make a good-faith effort to relate a request to any responsive information that is within its possession or control. Open Records Decision No. 561 at 8-9 (1990). Therefore, while the city is not required to create a document in response to the questions at issue, documents from which this information may be derived would be responsive to this request. Therefore, to the extent such responsive information existed on the date the city received the request, we assume you have released it. See Open Records Decision No. 664 (2000) (if governmental body concludes that no exceptions apply to requested information, it must release information as soon as possible). If you have not released any such information, you must do so at this time. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(a), .302.

Section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" Id. § 552.108(a)(1). A governmental body claiming section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why this exception is applicable to the information at issue. Id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You indicate report number 09-48939 pertains to an open criminal case. Based on this representation and our review, we find release of report number 09-48939 would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. We therefore conclude section 552.108(a)(1) is generally applicable to this information. See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976).

Section 552.108 does not, however, except basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime. Gov't Code § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic front-page information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88; Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information considered to be basic information). Thus, with the exception of basic information, the city may withhold report number 09-48939 under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code.

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 confidential criminal history record information ("CHRI") generated by the National Crime Information Center ("NCIC") or by the Texas Crime Information Center ("TCIC"). Section 411.083 of the Government Code deems confidential CHRI that the Department of Public Safety ("DPS") maintains, except that DPS may disseminate this information as provided in chapter 411, subchapter F of the Government Code. See id. § 411.083. Sections 411.083(b)(1) and 411.089(a) authorize a criminal justice agency to obtain CHRI; however, a criminal justice agency may not release CHRI except to another criminal justice agency for a criminal justice purpose. Id. § 411.089(b)(1). Other entities specified in chapter 411 of the Government Code are entitled to obtain CHRI from DPS or another criminal justice agency; however, those entities may not release CHRI except as provided by chapter 411. See generally id. §§ 411.090-.127. Furthermore, any CHRI obtained from DPS or any other criminal justice agency must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with Government Code chapter 411, subchapter F. Upon review, we find the city must withhold the CHRI you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with federal law and subchapter F of chapter 411 of the Government Code.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code provides that information relating to a motor vehicle operator's license, driver's license, title, or registration issued by a Texas agency, or an agency of another state or country, is excepted from public release. Id. § 552.130(a)(1), (2). Upon review, we find the city must withhold the information you have redacted, as well as the additional information we have marked, under section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽⁴⁾

In summary, with the exception of basic information, the city may withhold report number 09-48939 under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. The city must withhold the CHRI you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with federal law and subchapter F of chapter 411 of the Government Code. The city must withhold the information you have redacted, as well as the additional information we have marked, under section 552.130 of the Government Code. 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,

Nneka Kanu

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

NK/em

Ref: ID# 443729

Enc. Submitted documents

cc: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. The Act does not require a governmental body to answer general questions, perform legal research, or create information that did not exist when the request was received. See Econ. Opportunities Dev. Corp. v. Bustamante, 562 S.W.2d 266 (Tex. Civ. App.--San Antonio 1978, writ dism'd); Open Records Decision Nos. 605 at 2 (1992), 563 at 8 (1990), 555 at 1-2 (1990).

2. Section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact a living person's social security number from public release without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office under the Act. Gov't Code § 552.147(b).

3. Although your brief does not raise sections 552.101 and 552.130, we understand you to raise these exceptions based on your markings in the submitted information.

4. Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009) is a previous determination issued by this office authorizing all governmental bodies to withhold ten categories of information, including Texas driver's license numbers and Texas 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 redact information subject to subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3), including driver's license numbers, only in accordance with section 552.130, not Open Records Decision No. 684. However, Texas license plate numbers, which are protected by subsection 552.130(a)(2), are not within the scope of section 552.130(c). Therefore, Texas license plate numbers may still be withheld under Open Records Decision No. 684 without requesting a decision from this office.

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