September 17, 2012

Mr. Charles H. Weir

Assistant City Attorney

City of San Antonio

P.O. Box 839966

San Antonio, Texas 78283

OR2012-14769

Dear Mr. Weir:

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# 469580 (COSA File No. W009556).

The City of San Antonio (the "city") received a request for information related to a specified case number. You claim the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

We note the submitted information includes a crash report that was completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). Section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code states that except as provided by subsection (c) or (e), accident reports are privileged and confidential. ⁽¹⁾ See id. § 550.065(b). Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for release of an accident report to a person who provides two of the following three items of information: (1) the date of the accident; (2) the name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) the specific location of the accident. See id. § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, the Texas Department of Transportation or another governmental entity is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides the agency with two or more of the items of information specified by the statute. Id. We note the exceptions to disclosure found in the Act are generally not applicable to information another statute makes public. See Open Records Decision Nos. 623 at 3 (1994), 525 at 3 (1989). In this instance, the requestor has not provided the city with two of the three specified items of information. Therefore, the city must withhold the submitted crash report pursuant to section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code.

Next, we address your claim under section 552.108 of the Government Code for the remaining information at issue. Section 552.108(a)(1) excepts from disclosure "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). A governmental body must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state release of the remaining information would interfere with an open criminal case. Based on your representation, we conclude section 552.108(a)(1) is generally applicable to the remaining information. See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975) (court delineates law enforcement interests present in active cases), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976).

We note the remaining information includes statutory warnings and notices of suspension. Because copies of those documents are provided to the person who is the subject of the warning and the notice, we find release of the statutory warnings and the notices of suspension will not interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Therefore, the city may not withhold the statutory warnings and notices of suspension under section 552.108.

We also note section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Id. § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic front-page offense and arrest information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88; Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). The city must release basic information, including a detailed description of the offense, even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. The city may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code, except for the statutory warnings and notices of suspension.

Lastly, we note the statutory warnings and notices of suspension contain a driver's license number. 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. ⁽²⁾ See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1). The city must withhold the driver's license number in the statutory warnings and notices of suspension under section 552.130.

In summary, the city (1) must withhold the crash report pursuant to section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code; (2) may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code, except for basic information under section 552.108(c), the statutory warnings, and the notices of suspension; (3) must withhold the driver's license number in the warnings and notices under section 552.130 of the Government Code; and (4) must release basic information and the remaining information in the warnings and notices.

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/tch

Ref: ID# 469580

Enc: Submitted information

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential.

2. This office will raise section 552.130 on behalf of a governmental body, as this section is a mandatory exception to disclosure. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007, .352; Open Records Decision No. 674 at 3 n.4 (2001) (mandatory exceptions).

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