 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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April 25, 2012 Ms. Cheryl Elliott Thornton Assistant County Attorney Harris County Attorney 1019 Congress, 15th Floor Houston, Texas 77002 OR2012-05941 Dear Ms. Thornton: 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# 451818 (C.A. File No. 12PIA0024). The Harris County Constable's Office, Precinct 5 (the "constable's office") received a request for an incident report related to a specified case number. You claim 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. You raise section 552.108 of the Government Code, which provides, in pertinent part: (a) Information held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime is excepted from [required public disclosure] if: (1) release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime; [or] (2) it is information that the deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime only in relation to an investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication[.] Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1)-(2). Subsection 552.108(a)(1) is mutually exclusive of subsection 552.108(a)(2). Subsection 552.108(a)(1) protects information, the release of which would interfere with a pending criminal investigation or prosecution. In contrast, subsection 552.108(a)(2) protects information that relates to a concluded criminal investigation or prosecution that did not result in a conviction or deferred adjudication. Generally, a governmental body claiming section 552.108 must reasonably show that the exception is applicable to the requested information by explaining how and why the release of the requested information would interfere with law enforcement. See Gov't Code §§ 552.108(a)(1), .301(e)(1)(A); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state that the requested information relates to a pending criminal investigation. However, the affidavit attached to your brief as Exhibit "C" states the specified case number was dismissed, and therefore concluded in a result other than conviction or deferred adjudication. Because of these contradictory representations, we find you have failed to sufficiently demonstrate the applicability of section 552.108 to the information at issue. See Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(a) (governmental body must provide comments explaining why claimed exceptions to disclosure apply). Consequently, the constable's office may not withhold the requested information under section 552.108. We note the requested information includes information subject to section 552.130 of the Government Code. (1) Section 552.130 provides information relating 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 Texas or another state or country is excepted from public release. Gov't Code § 552.130(a). Therefore, the constable's office must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information must be released. (2) 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/sdk Ref: ID# 451818 Enc. Submitted documents c: Requestor (w/o enclosures)
1. 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).
2. We note the information being released contains the requestor's driver's license number, to which the
requestor has a right of access under section 552.023 of the Government Code. See Gov't Code § 552.023(a);
Open Records Decision No. 481 at 4 (1987) (privacy theories not implicated when individual requests
information concerning himself). Section 552.130(c) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body
to redact information protected by section 552.130(a)(1) without the necessity of requesting a decision under
the Act. See Gov't Code § 552.130(c). Therefore, if the constable's office receives another request for the same
information from a person who would not have a right of access to the present requestor's private information,
section 552.130(c) authorizes the constable's office to redact this requestor's driver's license information
without requesting another ruling.
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |