March 5, 2012

Ms. Teresa J. Brown

Senior Open Records Assistant

Plano Police Department

P.O. Box 860358

Plano, Texas 75086-0358

OR2012-03302

Dear Ms. Brown:

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# 451485 (#ALAN013112).

The Plano Police Department (the "department") received a request for information related to a specified arrest. You state some of the requested information has been released. You claim the submitted 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. ⁽¹⁾

We first note the submitted information includes the results of an analysis of a breath specimen. Section 724.018 of the Transportation Code provides that on the request of the person who has given a specimen at the request of a peace officer, full information concerning the analysis of the specimen must be made available to the person or the person's attorney. As a general rule, the exceptions to disclosure found in the Act do not apply to information other statutes make public. See Open Records Decision Nos. 623 at 3 (1994), 525 at 3 (1989). In this instance, the requestor is an attorney for the person who gave the specimen at the request of a peace officer. Therefore, the results of the analysis of the breath specimen must be released to this requestor pursuant to section 724.018 of the Transportation Code.

We also note the submitted information includes the requestor's client's fingerprints. Section 560.003 of the Government Code provides "[a] biometric identifier in the possession of a governmental body is exempt from disclosure under [the Act]." ⁽²⁾ Gov't Code § 560.003; see id. § 560.001(1) ("biometric identifier" means retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or record of hand or face geometry). Section 560.002 of the Government Code provides, however, that "[a] governmental body that possesses a biometric identifier of an individual . . . may not sell, lease, or otherwise disclose the biometric identifier to another person unless . . . the individual consents to the disclosure[.]" Id. § 560.002(1)(A). Thus, the requestor's client's fingerprints must be released pursuant to section 560.002(1)(A) of the Government Code. See Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individual requests information concerning himself).

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 the Collin County District Attorney's Office has advised the department that release of the remaining information would interfere with a pending prosecution. Based on your representation, we conclude section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable in this instance. 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 section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "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 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 department must release basic offense and arrest information, including a detailed description of the offense, even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. The department may withhold the remaining information at issue under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code.

In summary, the department (1) must release the results of the analysis of the breath specimen pursuant to section 724.018 of the Transportation Code; (2) must release the fingerprints pursuant to section 560.002(1)(A) of the Government Code; and (3) may withhold the rest of the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code, except for basic information under section 552.108(c), which must be released. ⁽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 W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/em

Ref: ID# 451485

Enc: Submitted information

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. This letter ruling assumes the submitted representative sample of information is truly representative of the requested information as a whole. This ruling neither reaches nor authorizes the department to withhold any information that is substantially different from the submitted information. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301(e)(1)(D), .302; Open Records Decision Nos. 499 at 6 (1988), 497 at 4 (1988).

2. 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.

3. We note Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009) is a previous determination issued by this office authorizing all governmental bodies to withhold ten categories of information without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision, including a fingerprint under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 560.003 of the Government Code. Thus, should the department receive another request for these same records from a different requestor, Open Records Decision No. 684 authorizes the department to withhold the present requestor's client's fingerprints under section 552.101 in conjunction with section 560.003 without the necessity of requesting another decision.

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