February 21, 2012

Ms. Cherl K. Byles

Assistant City Attorney

City of Fort Worth

1000 Throckmorton Street

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

OR2012-02649

Dear Ms. Byles:

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# 449848 (PIR No. W014219).

The City of Fort Worth (the "city") received a request for information regarding the arrests of two named individuals. You claim most of the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

We note the submitted information includes a court document. Section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code provides for required public disclosure of "information that is also contained in a public court record," unless the information is expressly confidential under the Act or other law. Gov't Code § 552.022(a)(17). Thus, the court document we have marked is subject to disclosure under section 552.022(a)(17). Although you seek to withhold the court document under section 552.108 of the Government Code, that section is a discretionary exception to disclosure that protects a governmental body's interests and may be waived. See id. § 552.007; Open Records Decision Nos. 665 at 2 n.5 (2000) (discretionary exceptions generally), 177 at 3 (1977) (statutory predecessor to Gov't Code § 552.108 subject to waiver). As such, section 552.108 does not make information confidential for purposes of section 552.022(a)(17). Therefore, the court document may not be withheld under section 552.108 of the Government Code but must instead be released pursuant to section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code.

Next, we address your claim under section 552.108 of the Government Code for the remaining information at issue. Section 552.108(a)(1) 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[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). A governmental body must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state release of the remaining information at issue would interfere with a pending criminal prosecution. Based on your representation, we conclude section 552.108(a)(1) is generally applicable to the remaining 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 present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976).

We note the remaining information includes a statutory warning, which we have marked. Because a copy of that document was provided to the person who is the subject of the warning, we find release of the statutory warning will not interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Therefore, the city may not withhold the statutory warning under section 552.108 of the Government Code.

We also note section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Id. § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic front-page offense and arrest information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88; Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). The city must release basic offense and arrest information, including a detailed description of the offenses, even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. Except for basic information and the statutory warning, the city may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code.

Lastly, we note the statutory warning contains the arrested person's driver's license number. Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information related to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state or another state or country. ⁽¹⁾ See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). The city must withhold the driver's license number we have marked in the statutory warning under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, the city (1) must release the marked court document pursuant to section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code; (2) may withhold the rest of the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code, except for the statutory warning and basic information under section 552.108(c); (3) must withhold the driver's license number in the statutory warning under section 552.130 of the Government Code; and (4) must release the remaining information in the statutory warning. ⁽²⁾

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,

James W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/em

Ref: ID# 449848

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. This office will raise section 552.130 on behalf of a governmental body, as this section is a mandatory exception to disclosure. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007, .352; Open Records Decision No. 674 at 3 n.4 (2001) (mandatory exceptions).

2. We note basic information includes an arrested person's social security number. 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.

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