 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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February 21, 2012 Ms. Susan Camp-Lee Sheets & Crossfield, P. C. 309 East Main Street Round Rock, Texas 78664-5246 OR2012-02668 Dear Ms. Camp-Lee: 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# 448165. The City of Round Rock (the "city"), which you represent, received a request for a specified incident report. You state the city has released some of the requested documents, with some information redacted pursuant to sections 552.130, 552.136, and 552.147 of the Government Code. (1) You claim some of the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Section 552.101 encompasses the doctrine of common-law privacy, which 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). To demonstrate the applicability of common-law privacy, both prongs of this test must be demonstrated. Id. at 681-82. This office has found personal financial information not relating to the financial transaction between an individual and a governmental body is excepted from required public disclosure under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 600 (1992), 545 (1990). In addition, a compilation of an individual's criminal history record information 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 individual has significant privacy interest in compilation of one's criminal history). Furthermore, we find a compilation of a private citizen's criminal history is generally not of legitimate concern to the public. However, information relating to routine traffic violations is not excepted from release under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. Cf. Gov't Code § 411.082(2)(B). Some of the submitted information is highly intimate or embarrassing and is not of legitimate concern to the public. Therefore, the city must withhold this information, which we have marked, under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. Upon review, however, we find the remaining information is not confidential under common-law privacy, and the city may not withhold it under section 552.101 on that ground. Section 552.130(a) of the Government Code provides the following: Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if the information relates to: (1) a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state or another state or country; (2) a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state or another state or country; or (3) a personal identification document issued by an agency of this state or another state or country or a local agency authorized to issue an identification document. Gov't Code § 552.130. We agree the city must withhold the motor vehicle record information you have marked under section 552.130. (2) To conclude, the city must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. The city must also withhold the information you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The city must release the remaining information. (3) 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 L. Coggeshall Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division JLC/ag Ref: ID# 448165 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures)
1. Section 552.130 allows a governmental body to redact the information described in
subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3), such as a driver's license number, without the necessity of seeking a
decision from the attorney general. 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). Id. § 552.130(d), (e). Section 552.136(c)
of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact, without the necessity of requesting a
decision from this office, access device numbers subject to section 552.136(b). See id. § 552.136(c); see also
id. § 552.136(d)-(e) (requestor may appeal governmental body's decision to withhold information under
section 552.136(c) to attorney general, and governmental body withholding information pursuant to
section 552.136(c) must provide certain notice to requestor). 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.
2. We note this office issued Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), a previous determination to all
governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including a Texas license plate
number, under section 552.130 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general
opinion.
3. We note the requestor has a right of access to information in the submitted documents that otherwise
would be excepted from release under the Act. See Gov't Code § 552.023(a) ("[a] person or a person's
authorized representative has a special right of access, beyond the right of the general public, to information
held by a governmental body that relates to the person and that is protected from public disclosure by laws
intended to protect that person's privacy interests"); Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy
theories not implicated when individuals request information concerning themselves). Thus, the city must again
seek a decision from this office if it receives a request for this information from a different requestor.
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |