Have you successfully argued for the withholding of social security numbers of a criminal defendant in response to a public information request? I have received a request for the social security numbers of all defendants that have successfully completed deferred adjudication.
Jill

For us mouth breathers who work in the hinterlands, the AG has kindly counseled that social security numbers may be confidential (ergo, they must be withheld under criminal penalty) if they fall within the privacy provisions of the 1990 amendments to the Social Security Act. Specifically, the AG reads 42 U.S.C. sec. 405(c)(2)(C)(viii)(I) to provide that a social security number obtained under authorization of a law that became effective after October 1, 1990 is confidential and subject to withholding under section 552.101 of the PIA. Tex. Att'y Gen. ORD-622 (1994) at 2-4. If you can't fit the SSNs into that niche, and they're contained in otherwise public information, the AG is likely to say you must disclose them. See, e.g., Tex. Att'y Gen. Informal Letter Ruling OR2004-1259 (2004).

With all that said, it may be that you will want to ask the requestor to narrow the inquiry, pursuant to sec. 552.222(b), if there's no time or offense-category limit on the information sought (in your county, that's got to be a lot of information).

[This message was edited by Scott Brumley on 03-04-04 at .]