February 27, 2012

Ms. Sarah Dowdy Young

Thompson & Horton L.L.P.

3200 Southwest Freeway, Suite 2000

Houston, Texas 77027

OR2012-02879

Dear Ms. Young:

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# 447859.

The Katy Independent School District (the "district"), which you represent, received a request for minutes from district board meetings, including closed executive session minutes, regarding the discussion of the sale of a specific parcel of land. You state the district will release some documents that are responsive to the request. You claim that the remaining requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim.

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. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential. You raise section 552.101 in conjunction with section 551.104 of the Open Meetings Act for the certified agendas of six closed meetings. ⁽¹⁾ Section 551.104 provides, in part, "[t]he certified agenda or tape of a closed meeting is available for public inspection and copying only under a court order issued under Subsection (b)(3)." Id. §551.104(c). Thus, such information cannot be released to a member of the public in response to an open records request. See Attorney General Opinion JM-995 at 5-6 (1988) (public disclosure of certified agenda of closed meeting may be accomplished only under procedures provided in Open Meetings Act). Section 551.146 of the Open Meetings Act makes it a criminal offense to disclose a certified agenda or tape recording of a lawfully closed meeting to a member of the public. See Gov't Code § 551.146(a)-(b); see also Open Records Decision No. 495 at 4 (1988) (attorney general lacks authority to review certified agendas or tapes of executive sessions to determine whether governmental body may withhold such information under statutory predecessor to Gov't Code § 552.101). You indicate the information at issue constitutes certified agendas of closed meetings. Thus, the district must withhold the requested information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 551.104 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,

Jeffrey W. Giles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWG/som

Ref: ID# 447859

c: Requestor

Footnotes

1. We note the district is not required to submit the certified agenda or tape of a closed meeting to this office for review. See Open Records Decision No. 495 at 4 (1988) (attorney general lacks authority to review certified agendas or tapes of executive sessions to determine whether a governmental body may withhold such information under statutory predecessor to Gov't Code § 552.101).

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