texas attorney general response to irving pd request for ruling 6.29.10

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  • 8/9/2019 Texas Attorney General Response to Irving PD Request for Ruling 6.29.10

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    June 29, 2010

    Mr. Les MoorePolice Legal dvisorIrving Po . e Department305 N h O'Connor RoadIrvi g, Texas 75061

    Dear Mr. Moore:

    0R20 10-09598

    You ask whether certain informatio is subject to required public disclosure under thePublic Information Act (the "Act"), c apter 552 of the Government Code. Your request wasassigned ID# 384675.The Irving Police Department (the' department") received three requests from the samerequestor for the booking photo or m gshot of every individual arrested by the departmentduring three specified time periods a~d the jail logs for the three time periods. You state youhave made the jail logs available to the requestor. You claim that the submitted informationis excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We haveconsidered the exception you claim knd reviewed the submitted representative sample ofinformation. 1Section 552.101 excepts from disclos re "information considered to be confidential by law,either constitutional, statutory, or by/judicial decision" and encompasses information thatanother statute tna]{es confidential. qIoV't Code ~ 5:2":.ttr. S'ecti-Olr5-52.+0+ encompassesthe doctrine of common-law privacy, which protects information if (1) the informationcontains highly intimate or embarrassing facts the publication of which would be highlyobjectionable to a reasonable person,/ and (2) the information is not of legitimate concern tothe public. Indus. Found. v. Tex. Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 685 (Tex. 1976). Todemonstrate the applicability of cOfmon-law privacy, both prongs of this test must bedemonstrated. Id. at 681-82. The typ of information considered intimate and embarrassing

    IWe assume that the representativ sample of records submitted to this office is truly representativeof the requested records as a whole. See 9pen Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This openrecords letter does not reach and, therefore, does not authorize the withholding of any other requested recordsto the extent that those records contain subsj antiaJly different types of information than that submitted to thisoffice.

    All Eqllft! Emplo)'lI/r- I 'Oppurtunity Employt'T. Print cd nil Rrcyclrd hlpnPOST OFFICE Box 12548, AUSTIN, TEX,\S 78711-2548 TEL:(512)463-2100 WWW.OAG.STtITE.TX.US

  • 8/9/2019 Texas Attorney General Response to Irving PD Request for Ruling 6.29.10

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    Mr. Les Moore - Page 2

    by the Texas Supreme Court in Industrial Foundation included information relating to sexualassault, pregnancy, mental or physical abuse in the workplace, illegitimate children,psychiatric treatment of mental disorders, attempted suicide, and injuries to sexual organs.ld. at 683. A compilation of an individual's criminal history is highly embarrassinginformation, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person.Cf United States Dep 't of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489U.S. 749, 764 (1989) (when considering prong regarding individual's privacy interest, courtrecognized distinction between puplic records found in courthouse files and local policestations and compiled summary of information and noted that individual has significantprivacy interest in compilation of lone's criminal history). Furthermore, wefind that acompilation ofa private citizen's criminal history is generally not of legitimate concern tothe public. Here, you claim that the requestor is asking the department to compileunspecified law enforcement records. We note, however, that the present request is for-allbooking photos or mugshots and jai~ logs pertaining to specified timeperiods. The requestordoes not seek a c~mpilation of information for any specific individual. Therefore, thedepartment may not withhold any of the submitted information under section 552.101 oftheGovernment Code as a compilationlof an individual's criminal history. In addition, we findthat the submitted information is either not intimate or embarrassing or is oflegitimate publicinterest. Thus, none of the sUbmitt6d information may be withheld under section 552.101ofthe Government Code in conjuncbon with common-law privacy. As you raise no furtherexceptions to disclosure, the submitted information must be released to the requestor.This letter ruling is limited to the pLicular information at issue in this request and limitedto the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previousdetermination regarding any other ihformation or any other circumstances.

    This ruling triggers important dea1lines regarding the rights and responsibilities of thegovernmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights andresponsibilities; please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/openJindex orl.php,or call the Office of the AttornfY General's Open Government Hotline, toll free,at (877) 673-6839. Questions cop.ceming the allowable charges for providing publicinformation under the Act must be d1irectedto the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office ofI.the Attorney General, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.

    Sarah CasterlineAssistant Attorney GeneralOpen Records DivisionSEC/eeg