HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOHM-R003529-052626 Final Letter to the Requestor (Utility Records Request)
Post Office Box 12548, Austin, Texas 78711-2548 • (512) 463-2100 • www.texasattorneygeneral.gov
August 14, 2026
Mr. Joseph G. Hays
Counsel for the City of Humble
Olson & Olson, L.L.P.
2727 Allen Parkway
Houston, Texas 77019-2133
OR2026-035381
Dear Mr. Hays:
You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the
Public Information Act (the “Act”), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request
was assigned ID# 26-030489 (Reference# COHM-R003529-052626).
The City of Humble (the “city”), which you represent, received a request for specified
utility drawings. You claim the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under
section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim
and reviewed the submitted information.
Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure “information
considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial
decision.” Gov’t Code § 552.101. Section 552.101 encompasses information protected by
other statutes. As part of the Texas Homeland Security Act, sections 418.176 through
418.182 were added to chapter 418 of the Government Code. These provisions make
confidential certain information related to terrorism. Section 418.181 provides,
Those documents or portions of documents in the possession of a
governmental entity are confidential if they identify the technical details of
particular vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure to an act of terrorism or a
hostile act by a foreign adversary of the United States.
Id. § 418.181. The fact that information may relate to a governmental body’s security
concerns does not make the information per se confidential under the Texas Homeland
Security Act. See Open Records Decision No. 649 at 3 (1996) (language of confidentiality
provision controls scope of its protection). Furthermore, the mere recitation by a
governmental body of a statute’s key terms is not sufficient to demonstrate the applicability
Mr. Joseph G. Hays - Page 2
of a claimed provision. As with any exception to disclosure, a governmental body asserting
one of the confidentiality provisions of the Texas Homeland Security Act must adequately
explain how the responsive records fall within the scope of the claimed provision. See
Gov’t Code § 552.301(e)(1)(A) (governmental body must explain how claimed exception
to disclosure applies).
You state the submitted information identifies specific locations and details of the city’s
utility systems, including water lines. You assert, and we agree, the city’s utility systems
are critical infrastructure. See generally id. § 421.001(2) (defining “critical infrastructure”
to include “all public or private assets, systems, and functions vital to the security,
governance, public health and safety, economy, or morale of the state or the nation”). You
also assert release of the information would allow criminals to exploit vulnerabilities in the
city’s utility systems. Based upon your representations and our review, we find the
information at issue reveals the technical details of particular vulnerabilities of critical
infrastructure to an act of terrorism or a hostile act by a foreign adversary of the United
States. Thus, the city must withhold the submitted information under section 552.101 of
the Government Code in conjunction with section 418.181 of the Government Code.
This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited
to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous
determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.
This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the
governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and
responsibilities, please visit our website at https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/open-
government/members-public/what-expect-after-ruling-issued or call the OAG’s Open
Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable
charges for providing public information under the Public Information Act may be directed
to the Cost Rules Administrator of the OAG, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.
Sincerely,
Kelly McWethy
Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Division
KM/jxd
Ref: ID# 26-030489
c: Requestor