November 14, 2012

Ms. Michele Tapia

Assistant City Attorney

City of Carrollton

1945 East Jackson Road

Carrollton, Texas 75006

OR2012-18305

Dear Ms. Tapia:

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# 475126 (City ID# PD-264).

The City of Carrollton (the "city") received a request for information related to police report number 2011-004297. You state some responsive information has been released. You claim some of the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108, 552.130, and 552.137 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information concerning an investigation that concluded in a result other than conviction or deferred adjudication. Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(2). A governmental body claiming section 552.108(a)(2) must demonstrate that the requested information relates to a criminal investigation that has concluded in a final result other than a conviction or deferred adjudication. See id. § 552.301(e) (governmental body must provide comments explaining why exceptions raised should apply to information requested).

You state the information you have marked relates to a completed investigation that did not result in conviction or deferred adjudication. Thus, we find the marked information relates to a criminal investigation that has concluded in a final result other than a conviction or deferred adjudication. Therefore, the city may withhold the marked information under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾

You seek to withhold a portion of the remaining submitted information under section 552.137 of the Government Code. Section 552.137 excepts from disclosure "an e-mail address of a member of the public that is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental body" unless the member of the public consents to its release or the e-mail address is of a type specifically excluded by subsection (c). See Gov't Code § 552.137(a)-(c). The e-mail address at issue is not excluded by subsection (c). Therefore, the city must withhold the personal e-mail address you have marked under section 552.137 of the Government Code, unless the owner affirmatively consents to its public disclosure. ⁽²⁾

In summary, the city may withhold the information you have marked under section 552.108(a)(2) of the Government Code. The city must withhold the personal e-mail address you have marked under section 552.137 of the Government Code, unless the owner affirmatively consents to its public disclosure. The remaining submitted 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,

Cindy Nettles

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CN/dls

Ref: ID# 475126

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As we make this determination, we do not address your remaining claim for this information.

2. We note Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009) is a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including an e-mail address of a member of the public under section 552.137 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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