August 23, 2012

Ms. Michelle M. Kretz

Assistant City Attorney

City of Fort Worth

1000 Throckmorton Street

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

OR2012-13421

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# 462878 (PIR No. W017705).

The City of Fort Worth (the "city") received a request for a specified report. You state the city has marked a social security number for redaction under section 552.147 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ You claim 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.

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 the doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information that is (1) highly intimate or embarrassing, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person, and (2) not of legitimate concern to the public. Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). You argue the submitted information should be withheld in its entirety under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy. We note the submitted information contains a reference to a sexual assault. Generally, only information that either identifies or tends to identify a victim of sexual assault or other sex-related offense must be withheld under common-law privacy. See Open Records Decision Nos. 440 (1986), 393 (1983), 339 (1982). However, a governmental body is required to withhold all of the information at issue when the requestor knows the identity of the alleged sexual assault victim. See ORD 393. Although you seek to withhold the entirety of the submitted information, you have not demonstrated, nor does the information reflect, the requestor knows the identity of the alleged sexual assault victim. Further, we note the victim is not identified in the submitted information. Upon review, we find no portion of the submitted information is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public concern. Thus, the city may not withhold any portion of the submitted information under section 552.101 in conjunction with common-law privacy.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code also encompasses laws that make criminal history record information ("CHRI") confidential. CHRI generated by the National Crime Information Center or by the Texas Crime Information Center is confidential under federal and state law. CHRI means "information collected about a person by a criminal justice agency that consists of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations, and other formal criminal charges and their dispositions." Id. § 411.082(2). Title 28, part 20 of the Code of Federal Regulations governs the release of CHRI obtained from the National Crime Information Center network or other states. See 28 C.F.R. § 20.21. The federal regulations allow each state to follow its individual law with respect to CHRI it generates. Open Records Decision No. 565 at 7 (1990); see generally Gov't Code ch. 411 subch. F. Section 411.083 of the Government Code deems confidential CHRI the Texas Department of Public Safety ("DPS") maintains, except DPS may disseminate this information as provided in chapter 411, subchapter F of the Government Code. See Gov't Code § 411.083. Sections 411.083(b)(1) and 411.089(a) authorize a criminal justice agency to obtain CHRI; however, a criminal justice agency may not release CHRI except to another criminal justice agency for a criminal justice purpose. Id. § 411.089(b)(1). Thus, any CHRI obtained from DPS or any other criminal justice agency must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with Government Code chapter 411, subchapter F. Upon review, we find a portion of the submitted information, which we have marked, constitutes confidential CHRI, which the city must withhold under section 552.101 in conjunction with federal law and chapter 411 of the Government Code. However, we find you have not demonstrated how the remaining information you seek to withhold consists of CHRI for purposes of chapter 411 of the Government Code. Accordingly, the city may not withhold any of the remaining information under section 552.101 of the Government Code on that basis.

You state the city will withhold certain Texas motor vehicle record information under section 552.130(a)(2) of the Government Code pursuant to the previous determinations issued to the city in Open Records Letter Nos. 2006-14726 (2006) and 2007-00198 (2007) and certain other motor vehicle information under section 552.130(a)(1) of the Government Code pursuant to section 552.130(c) of the Government Code. ⁽²⁾ Section 552.130 excepts from disclosure information that relates to a motor vehicle operator's license or driver's license or a motor vehicle title or registration issued by a Texas agency, or an agency of another state or country. See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). Accordingly, the city must withhold the information you have marked, and the additional information we have marked, under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, the city must withhold the information we have marked under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with federal law and chapter 411 of the Government Code. The city must also withhold the information you have marked, and the additional information we 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,

Nneka Kanu

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

NK/bhf

Ref: ID# 462878

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. See Gov't Code § 552.147(b).

2. Open Records Letter No. 2006-14726 authorizes the city to withhold, among other information, a Texas license plate number and a Texas license year of a motor vehicle under section 552.130(a)(2) of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision. Open Records Letter No. 2007-00198 authorizes the city to withhold, among other information, vehicle identification numbers relating to a title or registration issued by an agency of the State of Texas in which a living individual owns an interest under section 552.130(a)(2), without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision. Section 552.130(c) of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact from the requested information it discloses, without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office, 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(c) (governmental body may redact information described by subsection 552.130(a)(1) from any information the governmental body discloses without necessity of requesting decision from attorney general); see id. § 552.130(d)) (entitling requestor to appeal governmental body's decision to withhold information pursuant to section 552.130(c) to attorney general); see also id. § 552.130(e)) (requiring governmental body that withholds information pursuant to section 552.130(c) to provide notice to requestor).

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