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![handle is hein.sag/sagtx0050 and id is 1 raw text is: Office of the Attornep @eneral
6tate of Jexag
DAN MORALES January 5, 1993
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Mr. James R. Wilson Open Records Decision No. 613
Director
Texas Department of Public Safety Re: Whether, under V.T.C.S. article 179e,
P. 0. Box 4087 section 2.16, an applicant for a racetrack
Austin, Texas 78773-0001 license has a right of access to a background
check on himself or herself (RQ-451)
Dear Mr. Wilson:
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has received a request for a copy of
the background investigatory report that DPS prepared on the requestor, a stockholder in
an applicant for a class I racetrack license. You contend that sections 3(a)(1),
incorporating section 2.16 of the Texas Racing Act (the act),' and 3(a)(8) of the Open
Records Act, V.T.C.S. article 6252-17a, authorize DPS to withhold the requested
information from the requestor. We conclude that section 2.16 of the act provides the
requestor with a right of access to information about himself in the investigatory file; thus,
neither section 3(a)(1) nor 3(a)(8) of the Open Records Act authorizes DPS to withhold
the information from the requestor.
Section 3(a)(1) of the Open Records Act excepts from required public disclosure
information deemed confidential by law, either Constitutional, statutory, or by judicial
decision. Thus, information that another statute deems confidential also is confidential
pursuant to section 3(a)(1) of the Open Records Act. On the other hand, a governmental
body may not use the Open Records Act to withhold information that another statute
expressly makes public. Open Records Decision No. 525 (1989).
Article 6 of the act prohibits a person from conducting greyhound or horse race
meetings with wagering unless the person has a racetrack license, V.T.C.S. art. 179e,
§ 6.01, and requires applicants for racetrack licenses to complete detailed application
forms. See id. § 6.03. Additionally, section 6.031 of the act requires the Texas Racing
Commission (the commission) to require a complete personal, financial, and business
background check of.. . any person owning an interest in . .. an applicant for a racetrack
license, . . . [including] the stockholders. If the commission determines, in its sole
discretion, that the background check indicates anything which might be detrimental to
the public interest or the racing industry, the commission must deny the license
application. Id.
IThe Texas Racing Act is codified as V.T.C.S. article 179e.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagtx0050&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)