October 3, 2012

Mr. Eric D. Bentley

Senior Assistant General Counsel

Office of the General Counsel

University of Houston System

311 E. Cullen Building

Houston, Texas 77204-2028

OR2012-15707

Dear Mr. Bentley:

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# 467136.

The University of Houston System (the "system") received a request for the pricing and billing information for the system's current vendors for pre-employment background screenings for four specified campuses. Although you take no position on the public availability of the requested information, you state the requested information may implicate the proprietary interests of HireRight, Inc. ("HireRight"). Accordingly, you inform us, and provide documentation showing, you notified HireRight of the request and of the company's right to submit comments to this office as to why the requested information should not be released to the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); see also Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (determining that statutory predecessor to section 552.305 permits governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exception to disclosure under the Act in certain circumstances). We have reviewed the submitted information.

We note an interested third party is allowed ten business days after the date of its receipt of the governmental body's notice under section 552.305(d) to submit its reasons, if any, as to why information relating to that party should be withheld from public disclosure. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d)(2)(B). As of the date of this letter, we have not received comments from HireRight on why the company's submitted information should not be released. Therefore, we have no basis to conclude HireRight has a protected proprietary interest in the submitted information. See id. § 552.110; Open Records Decision Nos. 661 at 5-6 (1999) (to prevent disclosure of commercial or financial information, party must show by specific factual evidence, not conclusory or generalized allegations, that release of requested information would cause that party substantial competitive harm), 552 at 5 (1990) (party must establish prima facie case that information is trade secret), 542 at 3. Accordingly, the system may not withhold any portion of the submitted information on the basis of any proprietary interest HireRight may have in it. As you raise no exception to disclosure, the submitted information must be released in its entirety.

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,

Jeffrey W. Giles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWG/tch

Ref: ID# 467136

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Mr. Tim M. Willis

VP Director of Contracts and Compliance

HireRight, Inc.

5151 California Avenue

Irvine, California 92617

(w/o enclosures)

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer