April 27, 2012

Mr. Tuan Nguyen

Staff Attorney

City of Houston

1200 Travis

Houston, Texas 77002-6000

OR2012-06085

Dear Mr. Nguyen:

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# 451882 (OR# 12-0802).

The Houston Police Department (the "department") received a request for a police report pertaining to a specified incident and a named individual. 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.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." ⁽¹⁾ Gov't Code § 552.101. Section 552.101 encompasses information made confidential by other statutes, such as section 560.003 of the Government Code, which provides that "[a] biometric identifier in the possession of a governmental body is exempt from disclosure under [the Act]." Id. § 560.003; see also id. §§ 560.001 (defining "biometric identifier" to include fingerprints), .002 (prescribing manner in which biometric identifiers must be maintained and circumstances in which they can be released). We have marked fingerprints in the submitted information. You do not inform us, and the submitted information does not indicate, section 560.002 permits the disclosure of the submitted fingerprint information in this instance. Therefore, the department must withhold the fingerprints we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 560.003 of the Government Code.

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 contend the remaining information pertains to a criminal investigation into a missing person that is inactive pending additional leads. You further contend that the investigation may be reactivated once additional leads are developed. The submitted information indicates, however, that the case has been closed due to inconsistent and unsubstantiated statements made by the reportee. Thus, as the submitted information contradicts your representations, we are unable to find that the release of this information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1); 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 therefore conclude the department may not withhold the remaining information under section 552.108 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. ⁽²⁾ Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). We have marked driver's license numbers the department must withhold under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

Section 552.136 of the Government Code provides, "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of [the Act], a credit card, debit card, charge card, or access device number that is collected, assembled, or maintained by or for a governmental body is confidential." Id. § 552.136(b); see id. § 552.136(a) (defining "access device"). Accordingly, the department must withhold the bank account number we have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code.

In summary, the department must withhold the fingerprints we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 560.003 of the Government Code. ⁽³⁾ The department must withhold the information we have marked under sections 552.130 and 552.136 of the Government Code. The department must release the remaining information.

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/akg

Ref: ID# 451882

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

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

3. Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009) serves as a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including fingerprints under section 552.101of the Government Code in conjunction with section 560.003 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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