July 30, 2012

Ms. Michelle M. Kretz

Assistant City Attorney

City of Fort Worth

1000 Throckmorton Street, Third Floor

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

OR2012-11846

Dear Ms. Kretz:

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# 460298 (Forth Worth PIR# W017096).

The City of Fort Worth (the "city") received a request for all police reports for two specified addresses from January 1, 2011 to the date of the request. You have marked social security numbers for redaction under section 552.147 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ Additionally, you have marked for redaction motor vehicle information of living individuals in accordance with section 552.130(c) of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾ You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 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." Gov't Code § 552.101. Section 552.101 encompasses information that other statutes make confidential, such as section 58.007 of the Family Code. Juvenile law enforcement records relating to conduct that occurred on or after September 1, 1997 are confidential under section 58.007. For purposes of section 58.007, "child" means a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age. See Fam. Code § 51.02(2). Section 58.007 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), law enforcement records and files concerning a child and information stored, by electronic means or otherwise, concerning the child from which a record or file could be generated may not be disclosed to the public and shall be:

(1) if maintained on paper or microfilm, kept separate from adult files and records;

(2) if maintained electronically in the same computer system as records or files relating to adults, be accessible under controls that are separate and distinct from controls to access electronic data concerning adults; and

(3) maintained on a local basis only and not sent to a central state or federal depository, except as provided by Subchapters B, D, and E.

Id. § 58.007(c). Upon review, we agree report number 11-94072 involves a juvenile runaway. Thus, this information involves a juvenile engaged in conduct indicating a need for supervision and is subject to section 58.007. See id. § 51.03(b) (defining "conduct indicating a need for supervision" to include "the voluntary absence of a child from the child's home without the consent of the child's parent or guardian for a substantial length of time or without intent to return"). None of the exceptions in section 58.007 appear to apply; therefore, report number 11-94072 is confidential under section 58.007(c) of the Family Code and must be withheld in its entirety under section 552.101 of the Government Code.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code also encompasses the common-law right of privacy, which protects information that is (1) highly intimate or embarrassing, such that its release would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) not of legitimate concern to the public. See Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668 (Tex. 1976). To demonstrate the applicability of common-law privacy, both prongs of this test must be established. Id. at 681-82. The types of information considered intimate or embarrassing by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating to sexual assault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children, psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs. See id. at 683. This office has found that some kinds of medical information or information indicating disabilities or specific illnesses are excepted from required public disclosure under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 470 (1987) (illness from severe emotional and job-related stress), 455 (1987) (prescription drugs, illnesses, operations, and physical handicaps). Upon review, we find the information you have marked, in addition to the information we have marked, in report number 11-589 is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public concern. Thus, the city must withhold the marked information pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

In summary, the city must withhold report number 11-94072 under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 58.007 of the Family Code. The city must withhold the information you have marked, in addition to the information we have marked, in report number 11-589 under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy. 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,

Vanessa Burgess

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

VB/dls

Ref: ID# 460298

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. 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 from this office under the Act. Gov't Code § 552.147(b).

2. Section 552.130 permits a governmental body to redact the information described in subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3), such as driver's license numbers, 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).

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