Can a Texas agency photocopy and keep a police officer's ID when the officer asks to keep their info private?

Plain-English summary

District Attorney Randall Sims asked the Attorney General about how Texas agencies handle a privacy protection for police officers and other law enforcement personnel. Under the Public Information Act, government records are generally open to the public, but certain law enforcement officials can keep their home address, home phone, date of birth, Social Security number, and family information confidential. To do that, section 552.1175 requires the official to tell the agency they are choosing to restrict access, using a form, and to include "evidence of the individual's status." Sims said some agencies (a county elections administrator and an appraisal district) had been requiring officers to hand over their police ID cards, which include the officers' photos, and then photocopying the cards for their files. He asked two things: must an officer provide a copy of their credentials (or let them be copied), and may the agency keep that copy?

On the first question, the AG concluded section 552.1175 neither requires nor prohibits photocopying. The statute's text does not require an agency to photocopy the evidence of status, but no law forbids it either. So whether to photocopy is a decision the agency collecting the evidence may make. Importantly, any photocopy of an ID card collected this way is itself confidential: section 552.139(b)(3) makes "a photocopy or other copy of an identification badge issued to an official or employee of a governmental body" confidential.

On the second question, the AG concluded the agency may keep the copy, but it is not public. Documents an agency creates or collects in handling a section 552.1175 election are public records under the Act, whether on paper or electronic, and an agency is required to maintain public information it has collected (the law makes willful destruction of public records a crime). But "public record" does not mean "open to everyone." The copies will likely fall under disclosure exceptions: the copy of an ID badge is confidential under section 552.139(b)(3), and a peace officer's photograph can be withheld under section 552.119 when releasing it would endanger the officer's life or safety. Because the Act makes that information confidential, no agency may release it, regardless of why the copy was made.

The AG also noted a limit on the underlying privacy election itself: section 552.1175 does not apply to appraisal-district tax records governed by a separate Tax Code provision, which has its own confidentiality form and process.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2014. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later Attorney General opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

District Attorney Sims (as the opinion described it): The opinion answered that section 552.1175 neither requires nor prohibits photocopying an official's credentials, leaving the choice to the collecting agency, and that any copy kept is confidential and may not be released.

Law enforcement officials making a privacy election (as the opinion described it): The opinion described the section 552.1175 process (choosing to restrict access and notifying the agency on a form with evidence of status) and described copies of their ID badges and protected photos as confidential under sections 552.139(b)(3) and 552.119.

Agencies and public-records officers (as the opinion described it): The opinion described the decision whether to photocopy evidence of status as the agency's to make, described collected documents as public records the agency must maintain, and described those records as exempt from release where a disclosure exception applies.

Open-records requesters (as the opinion described it): The opinion described copies of an official's identification badge and a protected peace officer's photograph as confidential and not subject to release, regardless of why they were created or collected.

Common questions

Does a Texas officer have to give an agency a copy of their ID to keep their info private?
The AG concluded section 552.1175 does not require photocopying the evidence of status, but it does not prohibit it either. Whether to photocopy is up to the agency collecting the evidence.

Can the agency keep a copy of the officer's credentials?
Yes. The AG explained that documents an agency collects in handling the election are public records the agency must maintain, but they are exempt from public release.

Is a copy of a police ID card public under the Public Information Act?
No. The AG explained that a photocopy or other copy of an identification badge issued to a government official or employee is confidential under section 552.139(b)(3) and may not be released.

What about the officer's photo on the ID?
The AG noted that a peace officer's photograph can be withheld under section 552.119 when releasing it would endanger the officer's life or physical safety.

Does this privacy election cover appraisal-district records?
The AG noted that section 552.1175 does not apply to appraisal-district tax records governed by Tax Code section 25.025, which has its own confidentiality form and process.

Background and statutory framework

The Public Information Act generally makes information held by a governmental body available to the public (Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.021 (West 2012)). Section 552.1175 lets certain law enforcement officials (peace officers, county jailers, security officers, employees of certain criminal or juvenile justice agencies, and federal and state judges) keep specified personal information confidential by choosing to restrict access and notifying the agency on a form, "accompanied by evidence of the individual's status" (Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.1175(a), (b) (West Supp. 2014)).

The AG concluded the statute neither requires nor prohibits an agency from photocopying that evidence, leaving the choice to the agency, while noting that any copy of an identification badge issued to a government official or employee is itself confidential (Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.139(b)(3) (West 2012)). Documents an agency creates or collects in connection with the election are "public information" in paper or electronic form (id. § 552.002(a)(1)), and an agency must maintain public information it has collected (id. § 552.351(a), criminalizing willful destruction or removal of public information), subject to applicable records-retention schedules administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (id. §§ 441.151-.168, 441.180-.205). The collected evidence will, however, likely be subject to disclosure exceptions: the ID-badge copy under section 552.139(b)(3), and a peace officer's photograph (as defined by reference to article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) under section 552.119 when release would endanger the officer. The AG also noted that section 552.1175 does not reach appraisal-district tax records governed by Tax Code section 25.025 (id. § 552.1175(d); Tex. Tax Code Ann. § 25.025(b) (West Supp. 2014)).

Citations

Statutory provisions:

• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.021 (West 2012) (public availability of information)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.1175(a) (West Supp. 2014) (covered law enforcement officials)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.1175(b) (West Supp. 2014) (privacy election procedure; evidence of status)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.139(b)(3) (West 2012) (copy of an identification badge is confidential)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.119 (peace officer photograph exception)
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.002(a)(1) (West Supp. 2014) (definition of "public information")
• Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 552.351(a) (West 2012) (destruction of public information)
• Tex. Tax Code Ann. § 25.025(b) (West Supp. 2014) (appraisal-record confidentiality)
• Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 2.12 (definition of "peace officer")

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/greg-abbott/ga-1086
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2014/ga1086.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official PDF. Minor extraction artifacts were corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT

November 10, 2014

The Honorable Randall C. Sims Opinion No. GA-1086
District Attorney
47th Judicial District of Texas Re: Authority of an entity to require and
Potter County Courts Building maintain a photocopy of the credentials of a
501 South Fillmore, Suite 5A person covered by section 552.1175 of the
Amarillo, Texas 79101-2449 Government Code (RQ-1199-GA)

Dear Mr. Sims:

You ask two questions regarding the process under the Public Information Act (the "Act") by which certain law enforcement officials may keep specific personal information about themselves from being disclosed to the public.[1] As a general rule, the Act makes information in the possession of a governmental body available to the public. TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 552.021 (West 2012). "Information that relates to the home address, home telephone number, emergency contact information, date of birth, ... social security number" or family status of certain law enforcement officials,[2] however, "is confidential and may not be disclosed to the public" if the procedure set forth in subsection 552.1175(b) of the Government Code is followed. Id. § 552.1175(b) (West Supp. 2014). First, subsection 552.1175(b) requires the law enforcement official to "choose[] to restrict public access to the information." Id. § 552.1175(b)(1). Second, subsection 552.1175(b) requires the law enforcement official to "notif[y] the governmental body of the individual's choice on a form provided by the governmental body, accompanied by evidence of the individual's status." Id. § 552.1175(b)(2). Your questions concern this "evidence of status" requirement. Request Letter at 1-2.

You tell us that certain governmental entities[3] have required police officers making an election under section 552.1175 to provide evidence of employment status in the form of police identification cards. Id. at 1. The identification cards, which you explain "include the officers' photos," are photocopied and placed in the entity's files. Id. You first ask whether a person covered by section 552.1175 must "provide a photocopy of their credentials or present their credentials for photocopying ... when requesting that the covered information be kept confidential." Id. at 2.

The plain language of section 552.1175 does not require governmental entities to photocopy the evidence of employment status that is presented in connection with a privacy election. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 552.1175 (West Supp. 2014). On the other hand, you have not identified, and we have not found, any source of law that would prohibit such photocopying. Thus, whether to photocopy the evidence of status is likely a decision that may be made by the governmental entity collecting the evidence. Any copies of identification cards collected in this manner are themselves subject to subsection 552.139(b)(3) of the Act, which makes confidential "a photocopy or other copy of an identification badge issued to an official or employee of a governmental body." Id. § 552.139(b)(3) (West 2012).

Your second question is whether "an entity covered by Section 552.1175 [of the] Government Code [is] allowed to maintain a copy of a person's credentials, whether paper or electronic, of a person who has requested that the covered information be kept confidential." Request Letter at 2. Documents created by or collected by a governmental body in connection with an election under section 552.1175 are public records under the Act. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 552.002(a)(1) (West Supp. 2014) (defining "public information" as "information that is written, produced, collected, assembled, or maintained under a law ... by a governmental body"); see also id. § 552.002(c) (specifying that public information can exist in both paper and electronic form). A governmental entity is authorized, indeed required, to maintain[4] public information if it chooses to create or collect it. See id. § 552.351(a) (West 2012) (criminalizing the willful destruction or removal of public information). The evidence about which you ask, however, will likely be subject to an exception from public disclosure under the Act. For example, as explained above, "a photocopy or other copy of an identification badge issued to an official or employee of a governmental body" is confidential under subsection 552.139(b)(3) and may not be released. Id. § 552.139(b)(3); see also id. § 552.119 (generally excepting from public disclosure a photograph of a peace officer as defined by article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the release of which would endanger the life or physical safety of the officer). Because the Act makes such information confidential, no governmental body may release it, regardless of the reasons it was created or collected.

SUMMARY

Subsection 552.1175(b) of the Government Code neither requires nor prohibits a governmental entity from photocopying the evidence that verifies a person's employment status as a current or former law enforcement individual under subsection 552.1175(a).

No source of law prohibits a governmental body that chooses to photocopy the evidence of an individual's status submitted pursuant to section 552.1175 from retaining the copies. Such materials are likely subject to exceptions from public disclosure under the Public Information Act. Subsection 552.139(b)(3) of the Government Code provides that "a photocopy or other copy of an identification badge issued to an official or employee of a governmental body" is confidential and may not be released.

Very truly yours,

GREG ABBOTT
Attorney General of Texas

DANIEL T. HODGE
First Assistant Attorney General

JAMES D. BLACKLOCK
Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER
Chair, Opinion Committee

Becky P. Casares
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee

[1] Letter from Honorable Randall C. Sims, Dist. Att'y, 47th Jud. Dist., to Honorable Greg Abbott, Tex. Att'y Gen. at 1 (May 13, 2014), http://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opin ("Request Letter").

[2] Section 552.1175 applies to persons holding, and in some cases formerly holding, specific law enforcement positions, such as peace officers, county jailers, security officers, employees of certain criminal or juvenile justice agencies or offices, and federal and state judges. TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 552.1175(a) (West Supp. 2014).

[3] You refer specifically to a county elections administrator and an appraisal district. Request Letter at 1. Section 552.1175, however, "does not apply to information in the tax appraisal records of an appraisal district to which Section 25.025, Tax Code, applies." TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 552.1175(d) (West Supp. 2014); see also TEX. TAX CODE ANN. § 25.025(b) (West Supp. 2014) (making information in appraisal records that identifies the home address of certain persons confidential and not subject to public disclosure if the person chooses to restrict access through a form prescribed for that purpose); id. § 25.025(a) (listing the persons to whom section 25.025 applies).

[4] Records of state and local agencies must be maintained in accordance with the applicable record retention schedule as administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. See generally TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. §§ 441.151-.168 (West 2012) (governing preservation and management of local government records); 441.180-.205 (governing preservation and management of state government records); 13 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §§ 6.1-.10 (2014) (Tex. State Library & Archives Comm'n, Records Retention Scheduling) (applicable to state records), 7.121-.125 (Records Retention Schedules) (applicable to local records).