Source: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/openrecords/49cornyn/orl/2000/htm/or200001238.htm
Timestamp: 2016-12-05 12:54:54
Document Index: 43884038

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 159', '§ 159', '§ 773', '§ 552', '§ 159', '§ 773']

OR2000-1238
552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 133550.
The Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office (the "office") received a request for the
following: (1) a list of all open cases involving domestic violence prior to February 1, 1999,
including the name and race of each alleged assailant; (2) the status of each domestic
violence case assigned to Ms. Gloria Rincones and prosecution dates; (3) information
regarding Ms. Rincones' qualifications as Assistant District Attorney; and (4) all information
and sources of information regarding cause number 81772. You assert that you have
released information pertaining to Ms. Rincones' qualifications. You claim that the
remaining requested information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.101 and
With regard to the first requested item, you assert that the information does not exist in the
format requested and your office does not maintain a list of defendants, including their race. Thus, you assert that the information will not be produced because it does not exist. Chapter 552 of the Government Code does not require a governmental body to prepare
information in a form requested by a member of the public. Open Records Decision
No. 467 (1987). However, a governmental body has a duty to make a good faith effort to
relate a request for information to information the governmental body holds. Open Records
Decision No. 561 at 8 (1990). Further, the fact that it may be burdensome to provide the
information does not relieve a governmental body of its responsibility to comply with the
Public Information Act. See Industrial Found. v. Texas Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668
(1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931 (1977) (cost or difficulty in complying with act does not
determine availability of information), Open Records Decision No. 497 (1988). If your
office holds information from which the requested information can be obtained, your office
must provide that information to the requestor unless it is otherwise excepted from
You also claim that, if the list existed in the requested format, the list would be protected
under section 552.101 and common law privacy because the information pertains to domestic violence cases. Section 552.101 of the Government Code protects "information
decision," including information protected by the common law right of privacy. Industrial,
540 S.W.2d at 683-85. The doctrine of common law privacy protects information that
of no legitimate concern to the public. Id. In Open Records Decision No. 611 (1992), this
office concluded that common law privacy does not, as a matter of law, except all police
records regarding violence among family members and that such determinations must be
made on a case-by-case basis. We conclude that a list of open domestic violence cases and
the names of the defendants and their race would not be protected under common law
With regard to the second and fourth requests concerning the status of domestic violence
cases assigned to Ms. Rincones and information regarding cause number 81722, you assert
that the information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108. However, you have
not submitted information or a representative sample regarding the status of domestic
violence cases assigned to Ms. Rincones as required by section 552.301(e) of the
Government Code. Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(D) (governmental body must submit a copy
of the specific information requested or representative samples). Pursuant to section 552.302
of the Government Code, a governmental body's failure to submit to this office the
information required in section 552.301(e) results in the legal presumption that the
information is public and must be released. Gov't Code § 552.302. Information that is
of Ins., 797 S.W.2d 379, 381-82 (Tex. App.-Austin 1990, no writ) (governmental body must
not demonstrated a compelling reason to withhold the information under section 552.108
and; therefore, you must release the status of domestic violence cases assigned to Ms.
However, you have submitted information regarding cause number 81722 and, therefore, we
will address your section 552.108 claim. You assert that the following parts of section
552.108 apply to the requested information:
adjudication . . .
(1) the release of the internal record or notation would
conviction or deferred adjudication . . .
Gov't Code § 552.108(a)(1)-(2), b(1)-(2). A governmental body claiming an exception
§§ 552.108, .301(b)(1); see also Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You have not informed us of the status of cause number 81772 or explained how release of
this report interferes with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime. Furthermore, the documents in cause number 81772 do not supply an explanation of the status of the case. Thus, your office has failed to establish that section 552.108 applies to cause number 81772. Therefore, we conclude that the office may not withhold cause number 81772 under section
552.108.
However, we note that cause number 81772 contains medical records. Section 159.002(b)
of the Occupations Code, the Medical Practices Act (the "MPA"), provides the following:
§§ 159.002, .003. Medical records may be released only in accordance with the MPA. Open
Records Decision No. 598 (1991); see Occ. Code §§ 159.004, .005.(1) We have marked the documents that are medical records subject to the MPA. Cause number 81772 also contains Emergency Medical Services ("EMS") records. Section
773.091 of the Health and Safety Code provides in part:
(b) Records of the identity, evaluation, or treatment of a patient by emergency
Thus, the EMS report, except for the information specified in subsection (g), is deemed
confidential by section 773.091 and, therefore, may be released only in accordance
with chapter 773 of the Health and Safety Code. See Health & Safety Code
§§ 773.091-.094.(2) We have marked the EMS records that are subject to section 773.091 of the Health and Safety Code.
Cause number 81772 also contains driver's license numbers, license plate numbers, VIN
numbers, and social security numbers. Section 552.130(a) of the Government Code excepts
from disclosure information relating to a driver's license and motor vehicle title or
registration issued by an agency of this state. However, section 552.023 of the Government
Code grants a special right of access to a person or a person's authorized representative to
records that contain information relating to the person that are protected from public
disclosure by laws intended to protect that person's privacy interests. Because section
552.130 protects a person's privacy interest, the requestor has a special right of access to his
driver's license number, license plate number, VIN number and the office must release these
items to the requestor. However, driver's license numbers, license plate numbers and VIN
numbers belonging to others must be protected from disclosure under section 552.130(a). We have marked the information that you must withhold under section 552.130(a).
Further, social security numbers may be excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 in
social security number contained in cause number 81772 was obtained or maintained by your
office pursuant to any provision of law enacted on or after October 1, 1990. You have cited
no law, nor are we aware of any law, enacted on or after October 1, 1990, that authorizes
your office to obtain or maintain a social security number. Therefore, we have no basis for
concluding that the social security number at issue was obtained or maintained pursuant to
such a statute and is, therefore, confidential under section 405(c)(2)(C)(viii)(I). We caution
your office, however, that section 552.352 of the Government Code imposes criminal
penalties for the release of confidential information. Gov't Code § 552.352. Prior to
releasing the social security number, your office should ensure that this number was not
obtained or maintained by the office pursuant to any provision of law enacted on or after
In conclusion, we note that your office must provide information relating to the first request
if your office holds information from which the requested information may be obtained. Further, information pertaining to domestic violence cases is not protected under section
552.101 and common law privacy. We also determined that your office must release the
status of domestic violence cases because of your failure to submit the information and that
you may not withhold cause number 81772 because you failed to meet your burden under
section 552.108. However, you must withhold the marked medical and EMS records as well
as the marked driver's license numbers, license plate numbers, and VIN numbers under
Ref:	ID# 133550
cc:	Mr. Ralph N. Worley
2911 Field Line
Sugar Land, Texas 77479-1201
1. Section 159.004(5) provides for the disclosure of confidential information to a person who has the written consent of the patient as authorized by section 159.005. Section 159.005 states that the consent must be in writing and signed by the patient, parent, or legal guardian and specify the medical records to be released, the reasons for the release and the person to whom the information is to be released. Occ. Code § 159.005(a)-(b).
2. We note that records that are confidential under section 773.091 may be disclosed to "any person who bears a written consent of the patient or other persons authorized to act on the patient's behalf for the release of confidential information." Health & Safety Code §§ 773.092(e)(4), .093. Section 773.093 provides that a consent for release of EMS records must specify: (1) the information or records to be covered by the release; (2) the reasons or purpose for the release; and (3) the person to whom the information is to be released. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US