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. 

Dear Dr. 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 right to obtain those records which directly 

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 need mt decide that question 

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 State agencies 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

policy favoring 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 other than 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 fact maintained separately fmnhis other educational records, and if it is in 

fact maintained "solely for law enforcensn t purposesn by persons in the 

employ of ttkzmiversitywfiodonotbave access to ths student's other 

records, it is ouropinionthatthemiversity'slawenforcemn tannmay 

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 health insummecarriex~reo0~whi&directlypertainto 

. 

a student's eligibility to claim the benefits of the insurance policy. 

Sinceyouhavenotqecifiedtheprecisetypeof infoxmationrequested 

by the insurance carrier,wemstpresune that it falls into 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. 

Asimilarproosdwewouldprobablyalso satisfy the fmdingrquirenkxks of federal law. TheopenRecoldsActnavtakesccgnizanceofthe 

federal statute: 

NothiIKJinthisActshallbeconstmedtol?quire 

thereleaseofinfomlationcontainedineducation 

records of any educational agencyor institution 

except inconfomitywiththeprovisicms of ths 

Family Fducatimal Rights &Privacy Act of 

1974. . . . Acts 1975, 64th leg., ch. 314, p. 809. 

See Cpen E&cords Uecisicn No. 96 (1975). As to that portion 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 other infomation, 

the institution must affirmatively obtain the written conserkofthe 

student before it 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 rakes application for coverage, obtainhiswritten axsenttopraviding the insurance 

carrierwithall relevantinfomtion. 

SUMMARY 

Ingeneral, thelkxas Dqxrtnmt of Public Safety 

has access to student and faculty CasnplsvehiculaX 

registratim information. An educational institutionwhichmakes available to its student health 

p. 3177 
. . 

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

hsurancecarrierthosereco~whichdirectly 

pertain to a student's eligibility to claim the 

benefitsof the insumrmpdicy &ml& at the 

timethsstuSntmakesa~plicaticmforcoverage, 

obtainhiswritten consenttoreleaseofthe 

pertinent inf-*. 

Attorney General of Texas 

p. 3178