Source: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/openrecords/49cornyn/orl/2000/htm/or200002813.htm
Timestamp: 2018-06-24 01:21:14
Document Index: 675267791

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 550', '§ 1', '§ 24', '§ 13', '§ 550', '§ 16']

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act, chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID#137506.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Department (the "department") received a request for a supplemental police report which indicates the alcohol/drug analysis result for a blood test performed on an individual following an automobile accident. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 5.08(b) of the Medical Practice Act. You have submitted the responsive document for our review. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.
The responsive document is an accident report that appears to have been completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). The Seventy-fourth Legislature amended section 47 of article 6701d, V.T.C.S. to provide for release of accident reports to a person who provides two of the following three pieces of information: (1) date of the accident; (2) name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) specific location of the accident. See Act of May 27, 1995, 74th Leg., R.S., ch. 894, § 1, 1995 Tex. Gen. Laws 4413. Further, the Seventy-fourth Legislature also repealed and codified article 6701d as section 550.065 of the Transportation Code without substantive change. See Act of May 1, 1995, 74th Leg., R.S., ch. 165, §§ 24, 25, 1995 Tex. Gen. Laws 1025, 1870-71.(1) In section 13 of Senate Bill 1069, the Seventy-fifth Legislature amended section 550.065 of the Transportation Code to provide for release of accident reports under specific circumstances. Act of May 29, 1997, 75th Leg., R.S., ch. 1187, § 13, 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4575, 4582-83 (current version at Transp. Code § 550.065). The Seventy-fifth Legislature also repealed section 47 of article 6701d, V.T.C.S. in section 16 of Senate Bill 1069. Id. § 16(b), 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4575, 4583.
Next, we address the form titled "Toxicology Test Results" which is attached to the accident report. Confidential medical records may only be released in accordance with the Medical Practice Act (the "MPA"). See Open Records Decision No. 598 (1991). The MPA, subtitle B of title 3 of the Occupations Code, section 159.002(b) provides the following:
(Emphasis added). Section 159.005 provides the consent requirements by which medical records are to be released. In pertinent part, section 159.005 provides as follows:
You explain that the blood test result sought by the requestor was obtained from a blood sample drawn under the supervision of a physician. It does not appear that any of the exceptions to section 159.002(b) are applicable in this instance. Therefore, you must withhold the toxicology test result document under section 552.101.
In summary, the accident report must be released to the requestor in its entirety. The toxicology test result form, however, must be withheld.
Marshall Contract Adjusters, Inc.
P. O. Drawer 1309