April 9, 2012

Ms. Lillian Guillen Graham

Assistant City Attorney

City of Mesquite

P.O. Box 850137

Mesquite, Texas 75185-0137

OR2012-05000

Dear Ms. Graham:

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# 450816.

The City of Mesquite (the "city") received a request for a specified incident report. You state the city will redact social security numbers pursuant to section 552.147(b) of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ You claim portions of the submitted information are excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions 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 exception encompasses federal and state laws that make criminal history record information ("CHRI") confidential. CHRI refers to "information collected about a person by a criminal justice agency that consists of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations, and other formal criminal charges and their dispositions." Id. § 411.082(2). Federal law governs the dissemination of CHRI obtained from the National Crime Information Center network. Federal regulations prohibit the release to the general public of CHRI maintained in state and local CHRI systems. See 28 C.F.R. § 20.21(c)(1) ("Use of criminal history record information disseminated to noncriminal justice agencies shall be limited to the purpose for which it was given."); see also id. § 20.21(c)(2) ("No agency or individual shall confirm the existence or nonexistence of criminal history record information to any person or agency that would not be eligible to receive the information itself."). The federal regulations allow each state to follow its own individual law with respect to CHRI that it generates. See Open Records Decision No. 565 at 10-12 (1990); see generally Gov't Code ch. 411 subch. F. Although sections 411.083(b)(1) and 411.089(a) of the Government Code authorize a criminal justice agency to obtain CHRI, a criminal justice agency may not release CHRI except to another criminal justice agency for a criminal justice purpose. See id. § 411.089(b). We agree the city must withhold the CHRI you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with federal law and subchapter F of chapter 411 of the Government Code.

You state the city will redact portions of the submitted information marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. We note section 552.130(c) authorizes a governmental body to redact, without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office, the types of information described in subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3). See id. § 552.130(c); see also id. § 552.130(d)-(e) (requestor may appeal governmental body's decision to withhold information under section 552.130(c) to attorney general, and governmental body withholding information pursuant to section 552.130(c) must provide prescribed notice to requestor). Additionally, Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009) authorizes a governmental body to redact a Texas license plate number, which is protected by section 552.130(a)(2), without requesting an attorney general decision. However, neither section 552.130(c) nor Open Records Decision No. 684 authorize the city to redact the vehicle identification number you have marked under section 552.130 without requesting a ruling from this office. Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information related to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit, a motor vehicle title or registration, or a personal identification document issued by an agency of this state or another state or country or a local agency authorized to issue a personal identification document. See id. § 552.130(a)(1)-(3). Accordingly, the city must withhold the driver's license numbers, Texas license plate number, and vehicle identification number you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, the city must withhold the CHRI you have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with federal law and subchapter F of chapter 411 of the Government Code. The city must also withhold the driver's license numbers, Texas license plate number, and vehicle identification number you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

You also ask this office to issue a decision authorizing the city to withhold CHRI under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with federal and state law without the necessity of asking this office for a ruling on such information. See Gov't Code § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (previous determinations). We decline to issue such a decision at this time. 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,

Benjamin A. Bellomy

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

BAB/eb

Ref: ID# 450816

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Section 552.147(b) 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.

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