March 12, 2012

Ms. Amy L. Sims

Assistant City Attorney

City of Lubbock

P.O. Box 2000

Lubbock, Texas 79457

OR2012-03687

Dear Ms. Sims:

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# 452575.

The Lubbock Police Department (the "department") received a request for information related to a traffic accident. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

We note the submitted information includes a CR-3 crash report that was completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). Section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code states that except as provided by subsection (c) or (e), accident reports are privileged and confidential. ⁽¹⁾ See id. § 550.065(b). Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of an accident report to a person who provides two of the following three items of information: (1) the date of the accident; (2) the name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) the specific location of the accident. See id. § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, the Texas Department of Transportation or another governmental entity is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides the agency with two or more of the items of information specified by the statute. Id. In this instance, the requestor has provided the department with two of the three specified items of information. We note the exceptions to disclosure found in the Act are generally not applicable to information another statute makes public. See Open Records Decision Nos. 623 at 3 (1994), 525 at 3 (1989). Therefore, the crash report we have marked must be released to this requestor in its entirety pursuant to section 550.065(c)(4) of the Transportation Code.

Next, we address your claim under section 552.108 of the Government Code for the remaining information at issue. Section 552.108(a)(2) excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . it is information that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime only in relation to an investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(2). 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 remaining information is related to a concluded investigation that did not result in a conviction or a deferred adjudication. Based on your representation, we conclude section 552.108(a)(2) is applicable in this instance.

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 Publishing Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88; Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). The department must release basic 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 rest of the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code.

In summary, the department (1) must release the crash report pursuant to section 550.065(c)(4) of the Transportation Code and (2) may withhold the rest of the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code, except for basic information under section 552.108(c), which must be released.

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# 452575

Enc: Submitted information

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. 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 that other statutes make confidential.

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer