December 5, 2012

Mr. Sol M. Cortez

Assistant City Attorney

City of El Paso

2 Civic Center Plaza, 9th Floor

El Paso, Texas 79901

OR2012-19483

Dear Mr. Cortez:

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# 477223.

The El Paso Police Department (the "department") received a request for reports pertaining to a specified intersection during a specified time period. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and 552.130 of the Government Code. We have considered the claimed exceptions and reviewed the submitted information.

The submitted information consists of CR-3 accident report forms subject to section 550.065 of the Transportation Code. 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 550.065 of the Transportation Code. This section provides that, except as provided by subsection (c), accident reports are privileged and confidential. Transp. Code § 550.065(b). Section 550.065(c)(4) of the Transportation Code, however, requires the release of accident reports to a person who provides two of the following three pieces of information: (1) date of the accident; (2) name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) specific location of the accident. Id. § 550.065(c)(4). In this instance, the requestor has not provided the department with two of the three requisite pieces of information specified by the statute for each of the reports at issue. Accordingly, the department must withhold the submitted CR-3 accident report forms under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code. ⁽¹⁾

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,

Misty Haberer Barham

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

MHB/som

Ref: ID# 477223

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Because our ruling is dispositive, we do not address your remaining argument against disclosure.

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