July 24, 2012

Ms. LeAnn M. Quinn

City Secretary

City of Cedar Park

450 Cypress Creek Road

Cedar Park, Texas 78613

OR2012-11468

Dear Ms. Quinn:

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# 459766 (Ref.# 12-541).

The City of Cedar Park (the "city") received a request for all incident reports for a specified address during a specified time period. You state you will make some of the requested information available to the requestor. You state the city will withhold the driver's license numbers you marked pursuant to section 552.130(c) of the Government Code, the license plate number you marked pursuant to Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), and social security numbers pursuant to section 552.147(b) of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ You claim portions of the submitted information are 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.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes. You claim Exhibit C and the information you have marked in Exhibit B consist of medical records, access to which is governed by the Medical Practices Act ("MPA"). Occ. Code §§ 151.001-165.160. Section 159.002 of the MPA provides in part:

(a) A communication between a physician and a patient, relative to or in connection with any professional services as a physician to the patient, is confidential and privileged and may not be disclosed except as provided by this chapter.

(b) A record of the identity, diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of a patient by a physician that is created or maintained by a physician is confidential and privileged and may not be disclosed except as provided by this chapter.

(c) A person who receives information from a confidential communication or record as described by this chapter, other than a person listed in Section 159.004 who is acting on the patient's behalf, may not disclose the information except to the extent that disclosure is consistent with the authorized purposes for which the information was first obtained.

Id. § 159.002(a)-(c). This office has concluded that the protection afforded by section 159.002 extends only to records created by either a physician or someone under the supervision of a physician. See Open Records Decision Nos. 487 (1987), 370 (1983), 343 (1982). This office has also determined when a file is created as the result of a hospital stay, all of the documents in the file that relate to diagnosis and treatment constitute either physician-patient communications or records of the identity, diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of a patient by a physician that are created or maintained by a physician. See Open Records Decision No. 546 (1990). Medical records must be released upon the patient's signed, written consent, provided that the consent specifies (1) the information to be covered by the release, (2) reasons or purposes for the release, and (3) the person to whom the information is to be released. See Occ. Code §§ 159.004, .005. When a patient is deceased, medical records may be released only on the signed consent of the personal representative of the deceased. See id. § 159.005(a)(5). The consent in that instance must specify (1) the information to be covered by the release, (2) reasons or purposes for the release, and (3) the person to whom the information is to be released. See id. §§ 159.004, .005. Any subsequent release of medical records must be consistent with the purposes for which the governmental body obtained the records. See id. § 159.002(c); Open Records Decision No. 565 at 7 (1990). Therefore, Exhibit C and the medical records we have marked in Exhibit B may only be released in accordance with the MPA. See ORD 598. However, we find none of the remaining information you seek to withhold constitutes a medical record for purposes of the MPA, and the city may not withhold the information at issue under section 552.101 on that basis.

Section 552.130(a)(2) of the Government Code provides information relating to a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of Texas or another state or country is excepted from public release. Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(2). We find the city must withhold the motor vehicle information you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, Exhibit C and the medical records we have marked in Exhibit B may only be released in accordance with the MPA. The city must withhold the motor vehicle information you have marked under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information 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,

Jonathan Miles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JM/bhf

Ref: ID# 459766

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Section 552.130(c) authorizes a governmental body to redact, without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office, the driver's license and personal identification information described in subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3). See Gov't Code § 552.130(c); see also id. § 552.130(d)-(e) (requestor may appeal governmental body's decision to withhold information under section 552.130(c) to attorney general, and governmental body withholding information pursuant to section 552.130(c) must provide notice to requestor). Open Records Decision No. 684 serves as a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold specific categories of information without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision, including a Texas license plate number under section 552.130 of the Government Code. Section 552.147(b) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact a living person's social security number from public release without the necessity of requesting a decision.

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