April 6, 2012

Ms. Linda Pemberton

Paralegal

City of Killeen

P.O. Box 1329

Killeen, Texas 76540-1329

OR2012-04983

Dear Ms. Pemberton:

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# 449810 (Killeen ID No. W007164).

The City of Killeen (the "city") received a request for all information involving the requestor. You state you have released some of the requested information, but that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. ⁽¹⁾

We note the submitted information contains court-filed documents. Section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code provides for required public disclosure of "information that is also contained in a public court record," unless the information is made confidential under the Act or other law. Gov't Code § 552.022(a)(17). The court documents we marked are subject to section 552.022(a)(17). You seek to withhold these documents under section 552.108 of the Government Code, which is a discretionary exception to disclosure that protects a governmental body's interests and may be waived. See id. § 552.108; Open Records Decision Nos. 665 at 2 n.5 (2000) (discretionary exceptions generally), 177 at 3 (1977) (statutory predecessor to section 552.108 subject to waiver). As such, section 552.108 does not make information confidential under the Act. Therefore, the city may not withhold the marked court-filed documents under section 552.108. We note, however, that some of the information subject to section 552.022 contains motor vehicle record information subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾ Because section 552.130 of the Government Code can make information confidential under the Act, we will consider the applicability of this exception to the court-filed documents.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code provides information relating to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license, title, or registration issued by a Texas agency, or an agency of another state or country, is excepted from public release. See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). The city must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. As you raise no further exceptions, the remaining information subject to section 552.022(a)(17) must be released.

Section 552.108 of the Government Code 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 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 that the remaining information relates to an investigation that has not been completed and release of the information at this time would hinder the ability of detectives to conduct a thorough investigation. Based on this representation and our review of the information at issue, we conclude that section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to this information. 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 curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). Therefore, section 552.108(a)(1) is applicable to the information not subject to section 552.022.

We also note 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 offense and arrest information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88; see also Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). Except for basic information, the city may withhold the remaining information not subject to section 552.022 under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code.

In summary, except for the motor vehicle record information we have marked, which the city must withhold under section 552.130 of the Government Code, the city must release the court documents we have marked under section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code. Except for basic information, the city may withhold the remaining 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,

Jonathan Miles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JM/em

Ref: ID# 449810

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. We note the submitted information contains social security numbers. 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).

2. The Office of the Attorney General will raise a mandatory exception on behalf of a governmental body, but ordinarily will not raise other exceptions. See Open Records Decision Nos. 481 (1987), 480 (1987), 470 (1987).

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