By: M.L. Stein
THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE asked the Texas Department of Public Safety for a computer database containing the names of the state's 12.5 million licensed drivers.
"Sure," the DPS replied, "$60 million, please."
The newspaper's reaction was something like, "Are you kidding?"
The transaction is at an understandable impasse and may never be resolved, Chronicle managing editor Tony Pederson said.
But the dispute may lead to better dealings on the issue, which arose early last year.
Using the state Open Records Act, the Chronicle filed a request for the driving records of motorists who received traffic tickets in several Houston suburbs.
The DPS stalled on the request, sending it to the office of the state attorney general for an opinion. A committee there put its collective heads together and decided the DPS did not have to honor the request because it would single out a separate class of drivers, which is barred by law.
Ah, but there was a loophole. The committee noted that the records might be obtained through "other means."
The Chronicle got the message and revised its filing to include all the drivers in the state.
The DPS then got out its calculator. Based on its authority to charge $6 each for the first 100 records and $5 a record for the remainder, it came up with the $60 million figure.
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas reported that DPS assistant general counsel Charles Kara-kashian Jr. is working with the Chronicle and attorney general's office to arrive at a more realistic charge for the data.
Pederson was not optimistic about the paper's current request to the DPS.
"Chances are we won't get the information," he said.
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