March 19, 2012

Ms. Kristin Kidd

Assistant District Attorney

Denton County

P.O. Box 2850

Denton, Texas 76202

OR2012-04026

Dear Ms. Kidd:

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# 452240.

The Denton County Criminal District Attorney's Office (the "district attorney") received a request for a specified arrest report. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108, 552.130, and 552.147 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Initially, we note the submitted information includes a court document, which is subject to section 552.022 of the Government Code. Section 552.022(a)(17) provides for the required public disclosure of "information that is also contained in a public court record" unless it is "made confidential under [the Act] or other law[.]" Gov't Code § 552.022(a)(17). Although you raise section 552.108 of the Government Code, this is a discretionary exception and does not make information confidential under the Act. See Open Records Decision Nos. 665 at 2 n.5 (2000) (discretionary exceptions generally), 663 at 5 (1999) (waiver of discretionary exceptions), 177 at 3 (1977) (statutory predecessor to section 552.108 subject to waiver). As such, section 552.108 does not make information confidential for the purposes of section 552.022. Therefore, the marked court document may not be withheld under section 552.108. As you raise no further exceptions to disclosure, the court document must be released.

You seek to withhold the remaining information under section 552.108 of the Government Code. 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 claiming section 552.108 must reasonably explain how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See id. §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You claim that the remaining information relates to an open and pending criminal prosecution. Based upon your representation and our review, we conclude that section 552.108(a)(1) is generally 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 that are present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curium, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). We note, however, that the information at issue includes a DIC-24 statutory warning and a DIC-25 notice of suspension. Copies of these forms were provided to the arrestee. You have not explained how releasing this information, which has already been seen by the arrestee, would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See Gov't Code § 5521.108(a)(1). Accordingly, the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms may not be withheld under section 552.108.

Additionally, section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Id. § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic "front-page" information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-187; see also Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information considered to be basic information). Accordingly, with the exception of the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms and basic information, the district attorney may withhold the remaining submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾

Finally, we note that the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms contain a Texas driver's license number. Section 552.130 of the Government Code provides that information relating to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state or another state or country is excepted from public release. Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). The district attorney must withhold the marked driver's license number under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, the district attorney must release the marked court document pursuant to section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code. Except for the marked Texas driver's license number, which the district attorney must withhold under section 552.130 of the Government Code, the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms must be released. Except for basic information, which must be released, the district attorney may withhold the remaining submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) 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,

Tamara H. Holland

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

THH/ag

Ref: ID# 452240

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Although you also raise sections 552.101 and 552.103 of the Government Code for the submitted information, you have not provided any arguments to support these exceptions. Therefore, we assume you have withdrawn your claim these sections applies to the submitted information. See Gov't Code §§ 552.301, .302.

2. Although basic information includes an arrestee's social security number, 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. Gov't Code § 552.147(b).

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