April 24, 2012

Ms. Molly Cost

Assistant General Counsel

Texas Department of Public Safety

P.O. Box 4087

Austin, Texas 78773-0001

OR2012-05842

Dear Ms. Cost:

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# 456138 (PIR# 12-1016).

The Texas Department of Public Safety (the "department") received a request for information related to a fatal traffic accident. You state some of the requested information has been released. You claim other responsive information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

Section 552.108(a)(1) 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[.]" Id. § 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 the release of the information you have marked would interfere with the investigation and prosecution of an ongoing criminal case. Based on your representations, we conclude the department may withhold the marked information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. 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 present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976).

We note sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code also are applicable in this instance. ⁽¹⁾ Section 552.101 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. ⁽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.") and (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 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 have marked CHRI the department must withhold under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with federal law and subchapter F of chapter 411 of the Government Code.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information related to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit issued by an agency of this state or another state or country. See id. § 552.130. We have marked a driver's license number the department must withhold under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, the department (1) may withhold the information you have marked under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code; (2) must withhold the CHRI we 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; and (3) must withhold the driver's license number we have marked under section 552.130 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,

James W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/em

Ref: ID# 456138

Enc: Submitted information

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. This office will raise sections 552.101 and 552.130 on behalf of a governmental body, as these sections are mandatory exceptions to disclosure. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007, .352; Open Records Decision No. 674 at 3 n.4 (2001) (mandatory exceptions).

2. CHRI means "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." Gov't Code § 411.082(2).

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