December 14, 2012

Ms. Stephanie Berry

Assistant City Attorney

City of Denton

215 East McKinney

Denton, Texas 76201

OR2012-20118

Dear Ms. Berry:

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# 478132.

The City of Denton (the "city") received a request for information pertaining to a specified incident. You state some information will be released. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.103 and 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the claimed exceptions and reviewed the submitted information.

Initially, we note the submitted information contains a court-filed document subject to section 552.022 of the Government Code. Section 552.022(a)(17) provides for the required public disclosure of "information that is also contained in a public court record," unless it is "made confidential under [the Act] or other law[.]" Gov't Code § 552.022(a). Although you raise sections 552.103 and 552.108 of the Government Code for this information, these are discretionary exceptions to disclosure that may be waived and do not make information confidential under the Act. See id. § 552.007; Dallas Area Rapid Transit v. Dallas Morning News, 4 S.W.3d 469, 475-76 (Tex. App.--Dallas 1999, no pet.) (governmental body may waive section 552.103); Open Records Decision Nos. 665 at 2 n.5 (2000) (discretionary exceptions generally), 663 at 5 (1999) (waiver of discretionary exceptions), 586 (1991) (governmental body may waive section 552.108); 473 (1987) (section 552.103 may be waived). As such, sections 552.103 and 552.108 do not make information confidential for the purposes of section 552.022(a), and the court-filed document, which we have marked, may not be withheld on those bases. As no further exceptions to disclosure are raised for this document, it must be released to the requestor.

You raise section 552.108 of the Government Code for the remaining information. Section 552.108(a)(1) 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 release of the information at issue would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A) (governmental body must provide comments explaining why exceptions raised should apply to information requested); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state the submitted information pertains to a pending criminal investigation. Based on your representation and our review of the information, we conclude release of the remaining information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of a crime. See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975) (court describes law enforcement interests that are present in active cases), writ ref'd per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976). Therefore, section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code generally applies to the remaining information.

We note, however, the remaining information includes a DIC-24 statutory warning and a DIC-25 notice of suspension. The department provided copies of these forms to the arrestee. You have not explained how releasing this information, which has already been seen by the arrestee, would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. See Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1). Accordingly, the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms may not be withheld under section 552.108. In addition, section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Id. § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic "front-page" information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88. Basic information must be released, even if it does not literally appear on the front page of the report. See Open Records Decision No. 127 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). Therefore, with the exception of the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms and basic information, the department may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(1). ⁽¹⁾

We note the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms contain the arrestee's driver's license number. Section 552.130 excepts from disclosure information that relates to a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license, title, or registration, issued by an agency of this state or another state or country. Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(1)-(2). The department must withhold the arrestee's driver's license number, which we have marked, under section 552.130 in the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms.

In summary, the department must release the court-filed document we have marked under section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code. With the exception of the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms and basic information, the department may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code. The department must withhold the information we marked in the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms under section 552.130 of the Government Code. Basic information and the remaining information in the DIC-24 and DIC-25 forms 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,

Misty Haberer Barham

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

MHB/som

Ref: ID# 478132

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. As our ruling is dispositive, we need not address the department's remaining argument under section 552.103 of the Government Code except to note that the basic information held to be public in Houston Chronicle is generally not excepted from disclosure under section 552.103. See Open Records Decision No. 597 (1991).

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