October 24, 2012

Ms. Lillian Guillen Graham

Assistant City Attorney

City of Mesquite

P.O. Box 850137

Mesquite, Texas 75185-0137

OR2012-17046

Dear Ms. Graham:

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# 468772.

The Mesquite Police Department (the "department") received a request for a specified report and related photographs. You state the department will release the specified report to the requestor. You also state the department will redact license plate numbers under section 552.130(a)(2) of the Government Code pursuant to Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009). ⁽¹⁾ You claim some of 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. This section encompasses information made confidential by other statutes, such as section 143.090 of the Local Government Code. You state the City of Mesquite is a civil service city under chapter 143 of the Local Government Code. Section 143.090 of the Local Government Code, provides:

A department, [the Fire Fighters' and Police Officers' Civil Service Commission], or municipality may not release a photograph that depicts a police officer unless:

(1) the officer has been charged with an offense by indictment or by information;

(2) the officer is a party in a civil service hearing or a case before a hearing examiner or in arbitration;

(3) the photograph is introduced as evidence in a judicial proceeding; or

(4) the officer gives written consent to the release of the photograph.

Local Gov't Code § 143.090. You state some of the submitted information consists of photographs of police officers. You do not indicate the police officers depicted in the submitted photographs have provided the department with written consent regarding the release of the photographs. You do not inform us, and it does not appear, any of the exceptions to withholding a photograph under section 143.090 are applicable. Therefore, the department must withhold the photographs depicting police officers you have indicated under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 143.090 of the Local Government Code. As you raise no further exceptions to disclosure, the department must release the remaining information.

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,

Jennifer Burnett

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JB/tch

Ref: ID# 468772

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Open Records Decision No. 684 permits a governmental body to redact Texas license plate numbers, which are made confidential by section 552.130(a)(2), without requesting an attorney general decision.

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