March 29, 2012

Mr. Ronny H. Wall

Associate General Counsel

Texas Tech University System

P.O. Box 42021

Lubbock, Texas 79409-2021

OR2012-04607

Dear Mr. Wall:

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# 449261.

Texas Tech University (the "university") received a request for certain e-mails to or from a named individual. Although you take no position as to whether the submitted information is excepted under the Act, you state release of the submitted information may implicate the proprietary interests of Dr. Terry Maple and John Hopkins University Press (collectively, the "third parties"). You state you have notified the third parties of this request and of the third parties' rights to submit arguments to this office stating why their information should not be released. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); see also Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (statutory predecessor to section 552.305 permits governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exception in the Act in certain circumstances). We have reviewed the submitted information.

An interested third party is allowed ten business days after the date of its receipt of a governmental body's notice under section 552.305(d) of the Government Code to submit its reasons, if any, as to why requested information relating to that party should be withheld from disclosure. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d)(2)(B). As of the date of this letter, the third parties have not submitted comments to this office explaining why any portion of the submitted information should not be released to the requestor. Thus, we have no basis to conclude the release of any portion of the submitted information would implicate the third parties' proprietary interests, and none of the information may be withheld on that basis. See id. § 552.110; Open Records Decision Nos. 661 at 5-6 (1999) (stating that business enterprise that claims exception for commercial or financial information under section 552.110(b) must show by specific factual evidence that release of requested information would cause that party substantial competitive harm), 552 at 5 (1990) (party must establish prima facie case that information is trade secret).

Section 552.137 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "an e-mail address of a member of the public that is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental body" unless the member of the public consents to its release or the e-mail address is of a type specifically excluded by subsection (c). See Gov't Code § 552.137(a)-(c). Section 552.137 is not applicable to an institutional e-mail address, an Internet website address, the general e-mail address of a business, an e-mail address of a person who has a contractual relationship with a governmental body, or an e-mail address maintained by a governmental entity for one of its officials or employees. See id. § 552.137(c). The e-mail address we have marked is not excluded by subsection (c). Therefore, the university must withhold the personal e-mail address we have marked under section 552.137 of the Government Code, unless the owner affirmatively consents to its public disclosure. ⁽¹⁾ As no arguments against disclosure of the remaining information have been raised, it 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,

Jennifer Burnett

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JB/dls

Ref: ID# 449261

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Terry L. Maple, Ph.D.

9971 S.E. Oak Tree Terrace

Tequesta, Florida 33469

(w/o enclosures)

Mr. Vincent Burke

John Hopkins University Press

2715 North Charles Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21218

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. This office issued Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including e-mail addresses of members of the public under section 552.137 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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