March 29, 2012

Mr. Ronald J. Bounds

Assistant City Attorney

City of Corpus Christi

P.O. Box 9277

Corpus Christi, Texas 78469-9277

OR2012-04620

Dear Mr. Bounds:

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# 450729 (City File Number: 61).

The City of Corpus Christi (the "city") received a request for a specified video recording. You claim the submitted 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.

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 section encompasses information made confidential by other statutes, such as section 418.182 of the Texas Homeland Security Act (the "HSA"), chapter 418 of the Government Code. Section 418.182 provides, in relevant part:

(a) [I]nformation . . . in the possession of a governmental entity that relates to the specifications, operating procedures, or location of a security system used to protect public or private property from an act of terrorism or related criminal activity is confidential.

Id. § 418.182(a). The fact that information may be related to a governmental body's security concerns does not make such information per se confidential under the HSA. See Open Records Decision No. 649 at 3 (1996) (language of confidentiality provision controls scope of its protection). Furthermore, the mere recitation by a governmental body of a statute's key terms is not sufficient to demonstrate the applicability of a claimed provision. As with any exception to disclosure, a governmental body asserting one of the confidentiality provisions of the HSA must adequately explain how the responsive records fall within the scope of the claimed provision. See Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(A) (governmental body must explain how claimed exception to disclosure applies).

You state the submitted video recording was generated by security and video surveillance systems located at, around, and in the main headquarters of the city hall building. You state this security system is strategically positioned in a key location at, around, and in the city hall building in order to deter and detect criminal activities that threaten public property at and around the building and the safety and security of city employees and others who utilize the building for the official business of the city. You state release of the submitted video recording would reveal the type and specifications of the security equipment that the city utilizes and the placement, clarity, range, angle, and other characteristics at which this security camera documents traffic inside and outside city hall. You assert the submitted video recording could be used to identify and exploit weaknesses in the city's security system at and around the city hall building. Based on your representations and our review, we find the submitted video recording relates to the specifications and location of a security system used to protect public or private property from an act of terrorism or related criminal activity. See Tex. Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Abbott, 310 S.W.3d 670 (Tex. App.--Austin 2010, no pet.) (case construing section 418.182 of the HSA, which ruled recorded images necessarily relate to specifications of security system that recorded them). Accordingly, the city must withhold the submitted video recording under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 418.182(a) 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,

Sean Nottingham

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

SN/ag

Ref: ID# 450729

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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