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## OR?*'EY GENERAL FTF,XAS

ArmTIN. TICXAR 78711

October 19, 1972

Honorable Joe Resweber County Attorney Harris County Courthouse Houston, Texas 77002 Opinion No.M-1240 Re: Whether vehicle license receipts are public records to be kept bythe County Tax Assessor-Collector, and reDear Mr. Resweber: lated questions.

Inyour recent opinion request, accompanied byanable brief, you asked two questions regarding the duties of the Harris County TaxAssessor-Collector in the handling and disposition of copies of vehicle license receipts issued bythat office. Specifically you asked:

"1

. Is the County TaxOffice required to keep these records, and if so, for what length of time? "2

. If these records are not required, but maintained for auditing purposes only, are they public records and is the county tax office required to furnish information bytelephone to persons seeking the ownership of automobiles?" In the case of Noqueria v. State, 59S.W.2d 831 (Tex. Crim. 1933), the court cites manydefinitions of "record" and "public record", including the following:

"'Record,' in its broadest sense is amemorandum public or private, of what has been done, ordinarily applied to public records only, in which sense it is awritten memorial madeby a public officer." 11

. . .the term 'record' is ordinarily applied to public records only, in which sense a record is awritten memorial madeby apublic official authorized by law to perform that function and intended to serve as something written, said, or done."

-6071-Hon. Joe Resweber, page 2 (M-1240)

Thecounty tax assessor is apublic official, elected under the authority of the Texas Constitution, Article VIII, Sections 14and 16, bythe people of his county. Heis authorized to collect fees for and to issue vehicle license receipts under Articles 6675a-2, et seq.? Vernon’s Civil Statutes. Each copy of avehicle license receipt hemakes is “a written memorial madeby apublic official authorized by law to perform that function

. . .”

Harris County, like manycounties crowded for space, has most of its public records onmicrofilm. Article 6574b Vernon’s Civil Statutes, provides for the photographic duplication of public records and the destruction of the records. Section 4of Article 6574b reads:

“Sec. 4. Said photographic duplicates of all public records shall beplaced in conveniently accessible files andprovisions shall bemade for preserving safekeeping, using, examining, exhibiting, projecting and enlarging the samewhenever requested during regular office hours. Whenever photographic duplicates of public records are somade, certified andplaced, the original public records maybe, by order of the Commissioners Court of the county, or of the governing body of anypolitical subdivision of Texas, destroyed or otherwise disposed of, provided, however, that nooriginal record shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of unless or until the time for filing legal proceedings based on any such record shall have elapsed, and, in noevent, shall any original public record be destroyed or otherwise disposed of until said public record is at least five (5) years old; andprovided further, that notice of such proposed destruction or disposition of original public records are, in his opinion, needed for the Texas State Library, they shall be transferred thereto in the manner provided in Article 5439, Revised Civil Statutes, 1925.” Attorney General’s Opinion W-793 (1960) has interpreted Section 4as follows:

“It is therefore the opinion of this Department that the provision in Article 6574b that nooriginal records maybe destroyed until the ‘time for filing legal proceedings based on

-6072-Hon. Joe Resweber, page 3 (M-1240)

any such record shall have elapsed’ is not controlling in relation to this statute and that original public records, other than any deed record, deed of trust record, mechanic’s lien record or anyminute book of any court, or any minute book of any political subdivision of Texas,maybe destroyed according to Article 6574b! when the following conditions have been complied with: (1) when in the judgment of the Commissioners’ Court or other governing bodies anecessity exists; (2) when the records have been properly duplicated in amanner set out in said statute; (3) when said public records are five (5) years old; and (4) whennotice of said destruction is given the State Librarian, and if such records are, in his opinion, not needed for the Texas State Library.” Thus the length of time the county tax office must keep the motor vehicle license receipts records is fives (5) years.

Question twoconsiders the furnishing of information by telephone to persons seeking the ownership of automobiles. The leading Caseyrepo~rted in Texas upon the subject of the rights of the citizens of astate to inspect the records of the state or county is Palacios, et al. v. Corbett, et al., 172 S.W. 777 (Tex.Civ.App.Ie SanAntonio Court of Appeals applied the common law upon this subject as the law in Texas (Art. 1, V.C.S.). This case has been followed bythis office in Attorney General’s Opinions O-854 (1939), O-2044 (194,0), andO-3591 (1941), which last opinion reads in part as follows:

11

. . .if the reports or records are not confidential, but on the other hand are of a public nature, private citizens or their duly appointed representatives have aright to inspect such of the records as they have aninterest in. This right, of course, is subject to limitation imposed bythe Legislature in enacting the subject laws. Wedohave instances in which the Legislature has specifically limited the authority to examine or copy records required of individuals, partnerships, or corporations, such as the records of the Texas Unemployment Compensation Commission.”

-6073-Hon. Joe Resweber, page 4 (M-1240)

In examining the statutes pertaining tomotor vehicle license receipts, wefind noprovision making these records confidential or protecting them from examination or observation by interested persons. Wedofind in Article 6574b, Sec. 4, that examination of photographic duplicates of all public records "shall be

. . .whenever requested during regular office hours

. . . .Itand aswehave held in the above cited opinions, examinations must bemade at reasonable hours andwithout interfering in the normal operation of the office.

Wefind noauthority requiring or empowering the county tax office to give any information over the telephone to anyone calling and requesting information on the ownership of automobiles. It would appear, however, that this information could be given at the discretion of the tax office as amatter of courtesy to the public. SUMMARY

The county tax office's motor vehicle license receipt records are public records andmust bepreserved for five years under the law. These records maybe examined at the tax office during reasonable hours or regular office hours by interested persons. Information from these records requested by telephone can be given at the discretion of the tax office as amatter of courtesy to the public but the tax office is not required to provide this service. Ve truly yours,

Prepared by Linda Neeley Assistant Attorney General APPROVED: OPINIONCOMMITTEE

-6074-. ,

Hon. Joe Resweber, page 5 (M-1240)

Kerns Taylor, Chairman W.E. Allen, Co-Chairman BenHarrison Jim Swearingen Austin Bray James Hackney SAMUELD.MCDANIEL Staff Legal Assistant ALFREDWALKER Executive Assistant NOLAWHITE First Assistant

-6075-