March 12, 2012

Ms. Cynthia Villarreal-Reyna

Director, Office of Agency Counsel

Texas Department of Insurance

Mail Code 110-1A

P.O. Box 149104

Austin, Texas 78714-9104

OR2012-03660

Dear Ms. Villarreal:

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# 447963 (TDI# 123335).

The Texas Department of Insurance (the "department") received a request for the insurance coverage status of a specified vehicle on a specified date. You claim the responsive 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 note a portion of the submitted information does not relate to the insurance coverage of the specified vehicle and therefore, is not responsive to the present request for information. This decision does not address the public availability of the non-responsive information and such information need not be released in response to the present request.

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. Section 552.101 encompasses information protected by other statutes. Section 601.452(a) of the Transportation Code provides that "[t]he [department] in consultation with [the Department of Public Safety, Department of Motor Vehicles, and Department of Information Resources] shall establish a program for verification of whether owners of motor vehicles have established financial responsibility." Transp. Code §§ 601.452(a), .451. You inform us that, pursuant to section 601.452(a), the department established the TexasSure database as the verification program. See id. §§ 601.452(a), .453 (department shall select agent to develop, implement, operate, and maintain verification program). Each insurance company providing motor vehicle liability insurance policies in this state must provide the necessary information regarding those policies to the TexasSure database. See id. § 601.454(a); see also 28 T.A.C. § 5.604 (reporting requirements for insurers). Pursuant to section 601.454(c) of the Transportation Code, "[i]nformation obtained under [subchapter N of chapter 601 of the Transportation Code] is confidential." Transp. Code § 601.454(c).

You inform us the submitted information is contained in the TexasSure database, which consists of information received from insurance companies and participating state agencies. Based on your representations and our review, we find the responsive information was obtained under subchapter N of chapter 601 of the Transportation Code. Therefore, the responsive information is confidential and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 601.454(c) of the Transportation Code.

You ask this office to issue a previous determination permitting the department to withhold TexasSure database information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 601.454(c) of the Transportation Code. See Gov't Code § 552.301(a) (allowing governmental body to withhold information subject to previous determination); Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001). We decline to issue such a previous determination at this time. Accordingly, 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,

Jessica Marsh

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JM/em

Ref: ID# 447963

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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