June 1, 2012

Mr. Christopher Gregg

Counsel for the City of South Houston

Gregg & Gregg, P.C.

16055 Space Center Boulevard, Suite 150

Houston, Texas 77062

OR2012-08421

Dear Mr. Gregg:

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# 456081.

The South Houston Police Department (the "department"), which you represent, received a request for 11 categories of information regarding traffic convictions administered by the City of South Houston Municipal Court (the "court") during May 2011. ⁽¹⁾ You state some of the requested information either has been or will be released. You claim other responsive information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.115 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

We initially note the requestor may be seeking access to information maintained by the court. Although the Act is applicable to information "collected, assembled, or maintained under a law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by a governmental body," Gov't Code § 552.002(a)(1), the Act's definition of "governmental body" "does not include the judiciary." Id. § 552.003(1)(B). Thus, information "collected, assembled, or maintained by or for the judiciary" is not subject to the Act but instead is "governed by rules adopted by the Supreme Court of Texas or by other applicable laws and rules." Id. § 552.0035(a); cf. Open Records Decision No. 131 (1976) (applying statutory predecessor to judiciary exclusion under Gov't Code § 552.003(1)(B) prior to enactment of Gov't Code § 552.0035). Therefore, to the extent the submitted information is maintained only by the court, any such information is not subject to the Act, this decision does not address the public availability of any such information, and the Act does not require the court to release any such information in response to the present request. ⁽²⁾ To the extent the submitted information is maintained by the department, we will determine whether it is excepted from disclosure.

We next note, and you acknowledge, the department did not comply with its deadlines under section 552.301 of the Government Code in requesting this decision. See Gov't Code § 552.301(a)-(b), (e). The submitted information is therefore presumed to be subject to required public disclosure and must be released, unless there is a compelling reason to withhold any of the information. See id. § 552.302; Simmons v. Kuzmich, 166 S.W.3d 342 (Tex. App.--Fort Worth 2005, no pet.); Hancock v. State Bd. of Ins., 797 S.W.2d 379 (Tex. App.--Austin 1990, no writ). This statutory presumption can generally be overcome when information is confidential by law or third-party interests are at stake. See Open Records Decision Nos. 630 at 3 (1994), 325 at 2 (1982). Thus, as claims under sections 552.115 and 552.130 of the Government Code can provide compelling reasons for non-disclosure, we will address those exceptions.

Section 552.115 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "[a] birth or death record maintained by the bureau of vital statistics of the Texas Department of Health or a local registration official[.]" Gov't Code § 552.115(a). Although you seek to withhold dates of birth under section 552.115, we note this exception is applicable only to information maintained by the bureau of vital statistics or local registration official. See Open Records Decision No. 338 (1982). Thus, dates of birth maintained by the department may not be withheld under section 552.115 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 Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). Thus, to the extent the submitted driver's license numbers are maintained by the department, they must be withheld under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary: (1) to the extent the submitted information is maintained only by the court, any such information is not subject to the Act, this decision does not address the public availability of any such information, and the Act does not require the court to release any such information in response to the present request; but (2) to the extent the submitted information is maintained by the department, driver's license numbers must be withheld under section 552.130 of the Government Code, and the rest of the information at issue must be released.

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/bhf

Ref: ID# 456081

Enc: Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. The requestor also asks whether he may obtain the requested information on a monthly basis. We note the Act does not require a governmental body to release information that did not exist when it received a request, create responsive information, obtain information that is not held by the governmental body or on its behalf, or comply with a standing request to provide information on a periodic basis. See Econ. Opportunities Dev. Corp. v. Bustamante, 562 S.W.2d 266 (Tex. Civ. App.--San Antonio 1978, writ dism'd); Open Records Decision Nos. 605 at 2 (1992), 534 at 2-3 (1989), 518 at 3 (1989), 476 at 1 (1987), 452 at 3 (1986), 362 at 2 (1983).

2. We note judicial records may be public under other sources of law. See Gov't Code § 29.007(d)(4) (complaints filed with municipal court clerk); id. § 29.007(f) (municipal court clerks shall perform duties prescribed by law for county court clerk); Local Gov't Code § 191.006 (records belonging to office of county clerk shall be open to public unless access restricted by law or court order); see also Star-Telegram, Inc. v. Walker, 834 S.W.2d 54, 57 (Tex. 1992) (documents filed with courts are generally considered to be public and must be released); Attorney General Opinions DM-166 (1992) at 2-3 (public has general right to inspect and copy judicial records), H-826 (1976); Open Records Decision No. 25 (1974).

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