May 17, 2012

Ms. Lillian Guillen Graham

Assistant City Attorney

City of Mesquite

P.O. Box 850137

Mesquite, Texas 75185-0137

OR2012-07426

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# 457806.

The Mesquite Police Department (the "department") received two requests for specified call sheets. You state the department has released one of the call sheets to the second requestor. You also state the department will redact some information pursuant to Open Records Letter No. 2012-01375 (2012). ⁽¹⁾ Further, you state the department will redact motor vehicle record information pursuant to section 552.130(c) of the Government Code and Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009). ⁽²⁾ You claim some of the submitted information is 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.

Initially, we note you seek to withhold the prices of motor vehicles contained in the submitted call sheets under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. In Open Records Letter No. 2012-06459 (2012), this office issued a previous determination to the department authorizing the department to withhold the price of a motor vehicle under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy only if a living individual owns an interest in the vehicle and the requestor does not have a right of access to the price of the motor vehicle pursuant to section 552.023 of the Government Code, without requesting a decision from this office. See Gov't Code § 552.301(a); Open Records Decision No. 673 (2001) (listing elements of second type of previous determination under section 552.301(a) of the Government Code). Accordingly, the department must withhold the prices of the motor vehicles you have marked in accordance with the previous determination issued to the department in Open Records Letter No. 2012-06459.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating to a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state or another state or country. Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(2). Upon review, we find the department must withhold the motor vehicle information you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, the department must withhold the prices of the motor vehicles you have marked in accordance with the previous determination issued to the department in Open Records Letter No. 2012-06459. The department must also withhold the information you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information must be released.

You also ask this office to issue a previous determination that would permit the department to withhold information pertaining to a motor vehicle registration under section 552.130(a)(2) of the Government Code, contained in call sheets, without the necessity of requesting a decision under section 552.301 of the Government Code. We decline to issue such a previous determination at this time. Accordingly, 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,

Ana Carolina Vieira

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

ACV/ag

Ref: ID# 457806

Enc. Submitted documents

c: 2 Requestors

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Open Records Letter No. 2012-01375 is a previous determination issued to the department authorizing the department to withhold information in a call sheet that reveals the existence of a motor vehicle lien under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy, without requesting a decision from this office.

2. The Texas legislature amended section 552.130 of the Government Code effective September 1, 2011, to allow a governmental body to redact the information described in subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3) without the necessity of seeking a decision from the attorney general. See Gov't Code § 552.130(c). If a governmental body redacts such information, it must notify the requestor in accordance with section 552.130(e). See id. § 552.130(d), (e). Open Records Decision No. 684 permits a governmental body to redact Texas license plate numbers, which are made confidential by section 552.130(a)(2), without requesting an attorney general decision.

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