February 9, 2012

Ms. Tiffany Bull

Assistant Police Legal Advisor

Arlington Police Department

P.O. Box 1065

Arlington, Texas 76004-1065

OR2012-02079

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# 448636 (APD Ref. No. 6288-123011).

The Arlington Police Department (the "department") received a request for specified records maintained by the department. ⁽¹⁾ You claim the requested 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.

Initially, we must address the department's obligations under the Act. Section 552.301 of the Government Code describes the procedural obligations placed on a governmental body that receives a written request for information it wishes to withhold. Pursuant to section 552.301(b), the governmental body must request a ruling from this office and state the exceptions to disclosure that apply within ten business days after receiving the request. See Gov't Code § 552.301(b). Pursuant to section 552.301(e) of the Government Code, a governmental body is required to submit to this office within fifteen business days of receiving the request (1) general written comments stating the reasons why the stated exceptions apply that would allow the information to be withheld, (2) a copy of the written request for information, (3) a signed statement or sufficient evidence showing the date the governmental body received the written request, and (4) a copy of the specific information requested or representative samples, labeled to indicate which exceptions apply to which parts of the documents. See id. § 552.301(e). The department received the present request on December 30, 2011. You inform us the department was closed on January 2, 2012 and January 16, 2012. Thus, the department's ten and fifteen-business-day deadlines were January 17, 2012, and January 24, 2012, respectively. However, the envelope in which you requested a ruling from this office is postmarked January 18, 2012. See id. § 552.308 (describing rules for calculating submission dates of documents sent via first class United States mail). Furthermore, as of the date of this letter, the department has not submitted a copy of the original request. Consequently, we find the department failed to comply with the procedural requirements of section 552.301.

Pursuant to section 552.302 of the Government Code, a governmental body's failure to comply with the requirements of section 552.301 results in the legal presumption the requested information is public and must be released unless a compelling reason exists to withhold the information from disclosure. See id. § 552.302; Simmons v. Kuzmich, 166 S.W.3d 342, 350 (Tex. App.--Fort Worth 2005, no pet.); Hancock v. State Bd. of Ins., 797 S.W.2d 379, 381-82 (Tex. App.--Austin 1990, no writ) (governmental body must make compelling demonstration to overcome presumption of openness pursuant to statutory predecessor to section 552.302); see also Open Records Decision No. 630 (1994). Generally, a compelling reason to withhold information exists where some other source of law makes the information confidential or where third party interests are at stake. Open Records Decision No. 150 at 2 (1977). However, because section 552.101 of the Government Code can provide a compelling reason to withhold information, we will address the applicability of this exception to the information at issue.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision" and encompasses information made confidential by statute. Gov't Code § 552.101. Section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code states that except as provided by subsection (c), accident reports are privileged and confidential. See Transp. Code § 550.065. Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of accident reports to a person who provides two of the following three pieces of information: (1) date of the accident; (2) name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) specific location of the accident. Id. § 550.065(c)(4). You inform us the requestor has not provided the department with two of the three requisite pieces of information specified by the statute. Accordingly, the department must withhold the submitted CR-3 accident report under section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code in conjunction with section 552.101 of the Government 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,

Tamara H. Holland

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

THH/ag

Ref: ID# 448636

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As you did not submit a copy of the request, we take our description from your brief.

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