December& 1975

TheHomrableBevitgtm Me13 ccmhissicner,

Coordinatjng

Board cpinion No. H-749 TaxasCollege

andUniversity

System P. 0. Box 12788 Austin, TWas 78711 RS: Availability of certain klfolmation

regarding college students

tothe Deprtmnt of Public Safety andtiagmuphealth insurance

carrier.
DearDr. Peed:
You have requested

0~1: decision

regarding

the availability

of certain student and faculty

moxds. Specifically, youask: (1) Does the Texas

Dep&rent of Public Safety have right

of access

to student

and faculty carqmsv&icularregist.ration infonration,

and (2)Dxsthestudenthealth insurance mrrie.r,ut&x contractual

agreewntbaa junior college district, have the rightto obtain thoserecords

whichdirectly pertain to a student's

eligibility

to claim

benefits of the insurance

policy? Altkugh faculty

vehicle registration

infomutionis arguably not subject toccmpelled

%a V.T.C S lit disclosure

under section

3(a) (2) of the @en Records Act, article which excepts"inf~tion in personnel

files, tkdisclo&eofwkj)lwxld constituteaclearly~- warranted

kwasion of personal privacy,"

we needmt decide

thatquestion hre, sinceycuilquireonly whether

the university

may furnish

this information

to thsDepa&mntof Public Safety. In Attoxney General C@nion H-242 (19741, we held that the Cpen FWords Act doss not prohibit the transfer

between Stateagencies

of informtionvkkhismtrequired to be disclosed

to the public. Jn Attorney General Opinion H-287 (1974), we mted that the Legislature has "[oln

msny occasicms.

. . expressed

a policyfavoring

interagencycocperation.

. . .' l%us,webelievethat faculty vehicle registratim

infonnationmaybe

disclosedtotk Departmsnt of Public

Safety.

p. 3175?he norm-able ~evirqtm %ed - page two (H-749)

As to student

vehicle registration

information,

it is at least arguab1etbatsuchinf0nnationqualifiesasa"studmtrecord" towhich the exception

of section

3(a) (14) is applicable.

In any case, it is our opinionthat,wb&herornotstudentvehicleregistraticminfomation needbedisclosed

toths plblic,

itmybedisclosedtoths Department of Public

Safety witlmut violating

any principle

of pm-1975 Texas law. See Attorney

General QG.nions

H-287 (19741,

H-242 (1974). - wenu.lstalsodetembe,~,~therths Dqartmnt of Public Safetyhasaccess

tothis infonnationundertbe1974 amenmnentstothe FmilyE%caticmal&PrivacyRightsI\ct (theBuckley Pinenamtj,20 U.S.C. s 1232g.
S-on **(b)** (1)

of the Buckley

Pmndmntprohibitsthedispersal offederalfum%

toanyeducationalagencyorinstitutionwhich hasapolicyorpracticeofpermittingtbe release

of education

records (or

personally identifiable~ommtioncontainedtherein otherthandirecWryinfom&ion,asdefined in paragraph

(5) of mbeection (a)of this section)

of students wi+chxlt

their consent to any individual,

agency or orgsnization,

with certain enunsrated

exceptims. &otherportionofthestatuteindicates, ~,thatthescopeof"educaticnrecords"doesnotincluae

therecordsand&cmsntsofsuchlawenforcemntunitwh.ich(I)arekeptapartfmrecords described

in subparagra@ (A), (II) anz maintained solely for lawenforcxmn

t plrposes,

and (III)

are notmade available

to persons

otherthan lawenforcemsnt officials

of the sam jurisdiction ['if the pemcnnelof alawenforcenentunit do riot have access to &ucat.im records under subsection

(b)(l) of this section.']

20 U.S.C.

1232g(a)

(4) (B) (ii) Thus, if a student's vehicle registration

infomtion is in factmaintained separately

fmnhis othereducational records,

and if it is in factmaintained

"solely for law enforcensn

t purposesn

by persons

in the employ of ttkzmiversitywfiodonotbave access to ths student's

other records,

it is ouropinionthatthemiversity'slawenforcemn t annmay UnderSUChCircLms tances,withoutjeopmdizingthereceiptoffederal f!mds,furnishthisinfonnatimtonlawenfo~ t officials of the sams jurisdiction,

w whichwouldincludethe Dqxulnmt of Public Safety. Ofoourse,thefadualquestionsinMlvingthemaintenanceoftherecords mustbedeteminedineachcase.

p. 3176,

'the

Honorable

Bevington

ked - page three W-749)

Your second

question

is whather

the university

may furnish

to a student healthinsummecarriex~reo0~whi&directlypertainto

. a student's

eligibility

to claim

the benefits

of the insurance

policy. Sinceyouhavenotqecifiedtheprecisetypeof infoxmationrequested by the insurance

carrier,wemstpresune that it fallsinto the category of "student

records"

whichisexcepted

frunrequkeddisclosureby section 3(a)(14)

of the @en Rxords Act. That section pmvides, howwer, that the "reaxds shallbemade available- request of.

. . thestudentinvolved...."Theproperpmcedwe wuld therefore seem tobetorequireeachstudentwfiodesireshealthinsuranceaxrerageto give hiswritten consenttothe furnishing of parti.nentinfoHastion to the carrier. Asimilarproosdwewouldprobablyalsosatisfy the fmdingrquirenkxksof federal

law. TheopenRecoldsActnavtakesccgnizanceofthe federal statute: NothiIKJinthisActshallbeconstmedtol?quire thereleaseofinfomlationcontainedineducation records of any educational

agencyor institution exceptinconfomitywiththeprovisicms of ths Family Fducatimal

Rights &PrivacyAct of 1974.

. . . Acts 1975,64thleg.,ch. 314, p. 809.
See Cpen E&cords

Uecisicn

No. 96 (1975).As to thatportion of the infoGGm whichmay be classified as "directory

information"

uuder se&km (a)

(5) (A)of the Buckley

I4nsdwnt, the institution is required tonotifythestudentofitsin~ttoreleasetheinformation,after wfiich~studentispenittedareasonableperiodof~toobjectto its release. 20 U.S.C.6 1232g(a) (5) (B). As to all otherinfomation, the institution

must affirmatively

obtain the written

conserkofthe student beforeit may release the jnfomaticm. As a result, it is our opinion that an institutionkhichtis health inswame coverage available

to its students

should, at the time a student rakesapplication for coverage,

obtainhiswritten

axsenttopraviding the insurance carrierwithallrelevantinfomtion.
SUMMARY Ingeneral,thelkxasDqxrtnmt of Public Safety has access

to student

and faculty

CasnplsvehiculaX registratim

information.

An educational

institutionwhichmakesavailable to its student

health

p. 3177. .

IheHmorableBedn+n reed - page far U-I-749)

hsurancecarrierthosereco~whichdirectly pertain

to a student's

eligibility

to claimthe benefitsofthe insumrmpdicy &ml& at the timethsstuSntmakesa~plicaticmforcoverage, obtainhiswritten

consenttoreleaseofthe pertinent

inf-*.

Attorney General of Texas

p. 3178