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AttonNpv
Grxnner
oF
Tnxes
GREGABBOTT
July24,2008
Mr.
Scott
A.
Kelly
Deputy
General
CounselThe
Texas
A&M
University
SYstem
200Technology
Way,
Suite2079CollegeStation,Texas77845-3424
oR2008-10055
Dear
Mr.
Kelly:
You
ask
whethercertain
information
is
subject
to
required
public
disclosure under
thePublic
lnformationAct
(the
'oAct"),
chapter
552
ofthe
GovemmentCode.Your
requestwasassigned
ID#
317083.
Texas
A&M
University
(the
"university')
receiveda request
for
the
raw
data and
local
surveyresults
produced
for
eachparticrpating
schooi
district
inrelationto
the Texas
School
Survey
ofDrug
and
Alcohol
Use
for
years
2000,2002,2004,
and
2006.You
claim
that
the
requested
raw
data
is
excepted
from
disclosureunder
section
552.101'
of
the
Government
Code.You
also
state
that
release
of
the
requested
surveyresults
would
implicate
the
proprietary
interests
of
the
Texas
Department
of
State
Health
Services
("DSHS').
Accordingly,
pursuant
to
section
5 5
2.
3 0
5
of
the
Govemment
Code
you
notified
D
SHS
of
the
requestand
of
its
right
to
submitargumentsto
*ris
office
as
to whyits
information
shouldnot
be
released.
See
Gov't
Code
$
552.3
05(d)(permitting
interested
thirdpartytosubmit
to
attorney
generalreasons
why
requested
information
should
not
be
released);
see
also
Open
Records
DecisionNo.
542
(1990)
(deterrnining
thatstatutorypredecessor
to section552.305pennits
governmental
body
to
rely
on
interested
thirdpafiy
tgraise
and
explain
applicability
of
exceptionto disclosure
incertain circumstances).
Wehaveconsideredthe
exception
you
claim
and
reviewedthe
submitted
information.
We have
alsoconsideredcomments
received
fromthe
requestor.
See
Gov?t
Code
$
552.304
(interested
party
may
submitwritten
commentsconcerning
availabilityof
requested
information)
We
note
that
an
interested
thirdpartyisallowed
ten
business
days
after the
date
of itsreceiptof
the
govemmental
body's
notice under
section552.305(d)
to
submit
itsreasons,
if
any,
as
to why
requested
information
relating
to
that
partyshould
be
withheldfrom disclosure.
,See
id.
5552.305(dX2XB).As
of the
date
of
this letter,
thisoffice
has
not receivedcomments
from
DSHSexplaining
howthe
release
of
the
submitted
information
will
affect
its
posr
orrrcr
Box
12548,AusTrN,
TExAs
7871
1-2548
-rELt('12)463-2100
wv\r.oAG.srArE.rx.US
An
Eqnal
Enploynent
QplortutitlEnplolct
Ptinted
ot
Rccyclccl
Papcr
 
Mr"
Scott
A.KeilY
'Page2
proprietaryinterests.Thus,we
havenobasis
to
conclude
thattherelease
of
any
portion
of
the
submitted
informationwould
implicate
the
proprietary
interests
DSHS'
see'
e'g"
open
Records
Decision
Nor-
aor
at
s-6
(1999)
qiatiirstthai
businessenterprise
that
claimsexception
fo,
"ommer"iut
o.
financialinform)tion
rtdtt
section
552'110(b)
must
show
byspecificfactuaf
"uia"or"
that
release
of
requested
information
would
cause
that
party
substantialcompetitive
harm),
552
at5
(1990)(partymust
establi
sh
prima
facie
case
that
information
is
tradesecret).
Accordingly,
the
university
maynot
witlhold
any
portion
of
thesubmitted
information
onthe
basis
oi
any
proprietary
interest
that
DSHS
mayhave
in
the
information.
section
552.101ofthe
Government
code
excepts
from
djsclosure
"information
deemed
confidentiaibylaw,
either
constitutional,
statutory,orby
judicial
decision'"Gov't
Code$
552,101.This
sectionencompasses
information
protected
by
other
statutes'
You
argue
that
the
submitted
,u*
au,u
is
excepted
from
disclosure
undersection
552'101
of
the
Govemment
code
in
conjunction
with
section
51.914(1)
of
the
Education
Code'
section5t.g14of
the
Educationcodeprovides
in
pertinentpart
as
follows:
In
order
to
protect
the
actualor
potential
value,the
followinginformation
shall
be
,onfa"otiut
and
shall
not-be
subjecttodisclosureunder
Chapter
552,
Govemment
Code,
or
othervrise:
(1)allinformationrelatingtoaproduct'.device'orprocess'theapplicationoruseofsuch-aproduct'device'.orprocess'andall
technological
and
scientific
information
(including
computer
p.
gru*J)
aevelopedin
whole
or
in
p
artat
vstate
institution
of
higher
"or*tiorl
,"g*dl"r,
of
whether
patentable
or
capable
of
being
,"girt.""J*i",
"opyright
or
trademark
laws,
that
have
a
potential
for
beingsold,traded,
orlicensed
for
a
fee;
(2)
any
information
relating
to
a
product'
device'
or
process'
ah.
;;iit"tion
oruse
of
such
product'
device'
or
process'
and
*y'ti"toological
andscientific
information
(including
.o*put.,proframs;thatistheproprietary.informationofa
p.rr^oo,partnership,
corporation'or
federal
agency
that
has
u""oJ[itosed
to
an
institution
ofhigher
education
soleiy
for
tr'.po'po'"sofawrittenresearchcontractorgrantthat.ootuin'aprovisionprohibitingtheinstitutiorrof|isher
educationfromdisclosingsuchproprietaryinformationto
third
Persons
orPartiesf']
Educ.
code
$
5i.914(1).
The
purpose
of
section51'914(1)
isto
protect
the"actual
or
potential
value,,
"rt."rr*r"girui*a
scientific
information
developed
inwholeorinpartata
state
institution
ofhighereducation.
iun
optn
Records
DecisionNo'
497
at
6
(1988)
 
Mr.
Scott
A. Kelly
-Page
3
(interpreting
statutorypredecessorto section
5l
.91,4). The
legislature
is silent
as
to
how
this
offrce
or
a
court
is
to
determine
whether
particular
scientific information
has"a
potential
for
being
sold,
taded,
or
licensed
for
a
fee."
See
Open
Records
Decision
No.
651
(1997).Furthermore, whether
particularscientificinformation
hassuch
a
potentialis
a
question
of
factthat
this
off,rce
is
unable
to
resolve in
the
opinionprocess.
SeE
id,
Thus,
this
office
hasstated
that
in
considering whether
requested
information
has
"a
potential
for
being
sold,
traded,
or
licensedfor
a
fee,"
we
will
rely
on
a
university's
assertion that the
information
has
this
potential.
See
id.
But
see
id. at
10
(stating
thatuniversity's
detennination thatinformation
has
potential
for
being
sold,traded,
or
licensed
for
fee
is
subject
to
judicial
review).You
contendthat
the
submitted raw
data
contains
scientificinformation
generated
as a
result
ofresearch conducted by
the
university's
PublicPolicy
Research
lnstitute.
You
state
that
the
information
at
issue consists
of
the Public Policy
Research
lnstitute's
"unprocessed
or
primary
data
that
was used
.
.
.as
a
roadmap
to
facilitate
the
processingof
thesurvey
resultscommissioned
by
DSHS."
You
further explain
that the
raw
datacanbe
input to
a
computerprogram
orused
in manual
analysis
procedures.You
also
state
the
submitted
information
has
the
potential
for
being
sold,traded,or iicensed
for
h
fee,andcontend that release
ofthe
information
at
issue
"would
potentiallydiminish
its value
.
.
.
for
research
funding."
Based
on
yourrepresentations
and
ourreview,
we
agree
that
the submittedraw
data
information
is
confidential
under
section51.914
of
the
Education Codeand must be
withheld
under
section
552.101of the Government
Code.
As no
other,
exceptions
to
disclosure
are
raised,the
remainingsubmitted
information
must
be released"
This
letter
ruling
is
limited
to the
particular
records
at
issue
in this
request
and
limited
to
the
facts
as
presented
to
us;
therefore,
this ruling
must
not
be relied
upon as
a
previousdetermination regarding
any
other
records
or
any
other
circumstances.
':
This
ruling
triggers
important
deadlinesregarding
the
rights
and
responsibilities
of
thegovemmentalbody
and
of
the
requestor.For
example,
governmental
bodies
are
prohibitedfrom
asking
the attomey
generaltoreconsider
this
ruling.
Gov't
Code
$
552.301(f
.
If
thegovemmentalbody wants
to
challenge
this
ruling,
thegovernmentalbodymust
file
suit
in
TravisCounty
within
30 calendar
days.
Id.
g
552.324(b).
Lr
order
to
get
the
firll
benefit
of
such
a
challenge,
the
governmental
body must
file
suit
within
10
calendar
days.
Id.5
552.353(bX3).
If
the
governmentalbody
does
not
file
suit
over
this
ruling
andthegovernmental
body
does
not
comply
with
it,
then
both
the
requestor
and
the
attorneygeneralhave
the
right
to
file
suit
against
the
governmental
body
to
enforce
this ruling.
rd,$
552.321,(a).
if
this ruling
requires
the
govemmental
body
to
release
all
orpart
of
the
requested
information,
thegovemmentalbodyis responsible
for
taking
the
next step.
Basedon the
statute,
the
attorney
generalexpects that,upon
receiving this
ruling,
the
governmental
body
will
eitlrer
release
the
public
records
promptly
pursuant
to
section
552.221(a)
of
the
of 00

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