November 30, 2012

Ms. LeAnn M. Quinn

City Secretary

City of Cedar Park

600 North Bell Boulevard

Cedar Park, Texas 78613

OR2012-19312

Dear Ms. Quinn:

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# 472339 (Reference No. 12-814).

The City of Cedar Park (the "city") received a request for a specified police report. You state the city will release some of the responsive information. You also state you will redact certain information pursuant to Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009) and sections 552.130, 552.136, and 552.147 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ You claim some of the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101, 552.108, and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.108 of the Government Code 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, and have provided documentation stating, the information submitted as Exhibit C is related to a pending criminal prosecution. Based on your representation and documentation, we conclude the city may withhold Exhibit C under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. 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).

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 exception encompasses common-law privacy, which protects information that is highly intimate or embarrassing, such that its release would be highly objectionable to a person of ordinary sensibilities, and of no legitimate public interest. See Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). Personal financial information related only to an individual ordinarily satisfies the first element of the common-law privacy test, but the public has a legitimate interest in the essential facts about a financial transaction between an individual and a governmental body. See Open Records Decision Nos. 600 at 9-12 (1992) (identifying public and private portions of certain state personnel records), 545 at 4 (1990) (attorney general has found kinds of financial information not excepted from public disclosure by common-law privacy to generally be those regarding receipt of governmental funds or debts owed to governmental entities), 523 at 4 (1989) (noting distinction under common-law privacy between confidential background financial information furnished to public body about individual and basic facts regarding particular financial transaction between individual and public body), 373 at 4 (1983) (determination of whether public's interest in obtaining personal financial information is sufficient to justify its disclosure must be made on case-by-case basis). We agree the city must withhold the personal financial information you have marked in Exhibit B under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy.

Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information related to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit or a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state or another state or country. See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). We agree the city must withhold the information you have marked in Exhibit B under section 552.130 of the Government Code.

In summary, the city may withhold Exhibit C under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. In Exhibit B, the city must withhold the marked personal financial information under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with common-law privacy and the marked information under section 552.130 of the Government Code. The remaining information in Exhibit B 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,

Jennifer Luttrall

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JL/som

Ref: ID# 472339

Enc. Submitted documents

cc: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Open Records Decision No. 684 is a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold certain categories of information, including Texas license plate numbers under section 552.130 of the Government Code, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision. Section 552.130(c) of the Government Code allows a governmental body to redact the information described in subsections 552.130(a)(1) and (a)(3) without the necessity of seeking a decision from the attorney general. See Gov't Code § 552.130(c). If a governmental body redacts such information, it must notify the requestor in accordance with section 552.130(e). See id. § 552.130(d), (e). Section 552.136 of the Government Code authorizes a governmental body to redact, without the necessity of requesting a decision from this office, access device numbers subject to section 552.136(b). See id. § 552.136(c); see also id. § 552.136(d)-(e) (requestor may appeal governmental body's decision to withhold information under section 552.136(c) to attorney general and governmental body withholding information pursuant to section 552.136(c) must provide certain notice to requestor). 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. See id. § 552.147(b).

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