Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/68926
Page 4 June 7, 2012 County stops supplying causes of death R ple in Vanderburgh County for years. It's not been hard because ita Ward of Evansville has been examining causes of death of peo- the Evansville Courier & Press has been running that information in its "On the Record" section every Sunday for years. The newspaper's website last in attendance upon the deceased. The doctor certi- fies the cause of death on this form. are required to forward this form to the state Department of Health. When HSPA last checked also has been archiving the information since 2002. But now the Evansville- Vanderburgh County Health Department has declared that causes of death will no lon- ger be made available to the public. They did it by simply end- ing a practice that predates 1975. quit keeping copies of the certificate of death required under IC 16-37-3-3. The person in charge of a body's internment must file this record with the county health officer. That individual presents the form to the physician Apparently, the department County health departments Points By Steve Key Key years ago, about two-thirds of Indiana county health depart- ments maintained copies of these records for their own use, though there is no such requirement in law. The records once received by the state health depart- ment are confidential. A lawsuit involving Evansville Printing Corp., which produced the Courier and the Press when they were separate newspa- pers, and the Evansville- Vanderburgh County Department of Health ended with a 1975 Indiana Court of Appeals decision that ruled the records should be made available for inspection and copying if requested at the county health department level. HSPA Hotline These questions came from The Leader (Knox) and The Indianapolis Star: Q A rant? acts with a minor. I was informed all they had was I was just at our county courthouse because I heard paperwork had been filed on a teacher being crimi- nally charged for improper the paperwork for a search warrant that was executed on the teacher. When I asked to see it one of the clerks said she could not let me see it because the suspect's personal infor- mation is on it. Do I have the right to see the war- search warrant that is required to be kept confidential by law – for example, Social Security numbers – the clerk would be right to make a copy of the warrant and redact any other information the law requires be kept confidential and then give you the redacted document. I don't know what other "personal information" there is that the clerk's office would have to keep confidential. You'll need to follow up with the clerk on that. The burden is on the public agency to separate disclosable from nondisclosable information, then make the record available for inspection and copying. Looks like you'll need to visit If there is information on the the clerk again. Maybe by then the search warrant will have been served and there may be more information in the file. Q a public records request to the Bloomington Police Department ask- ing for "copies of all emails sent to and from policetips@bloomington. in.gov regarding the Lauren Spierer case and copies of all expense reports filed by BPD officers for trips per- taining to the Spierer case." Bloomington Police denied the As part of our Sunday package about the one- year anniversary of the disappearance of Lauren Spierer, I submitted the search warrant, it's a record that you should be able to inspect and copy. Unless a judge sealed request, saying they were investiga- tory records. Is that is a valid response, par- ticularly with regards to the expense reports? course of a criminal investigation and would fall under the "investiga- tory records" category that would allow them (not mandate them) to keep the information confidential. I would have some heartburn over A the Bloomington Police Department that the tips were compiled in the I would agree with a blanket use of the "investigatory records" exception applied to the expense reports. Technically, the expense reports So causes of death in Vanderburgh County have been public for decades. Ward can use the informa- tion to monitor the number of cancer deaths as part of her anti-tobacco use efforts. Genealogists have been transferring the information to a website, browning genealogy.org, which honors the late Charles Browning's family, according to Evans- ville newspaper editor Tim Ethridge. So why change its policy now? Ward says Dr. Ray Nicholson, the county health officer, told her that the health department had received several complaints related to the newspaper pub- lication of causes of death, so the decision was made so the newspaper would no longer have access. In a column written by Ethridge, the editor says Joe Harrison, the county's attorney, said the change was made to cut costs. I tend to think Nicholson's comment to Ward is probably the more likely of the two explanations. That's based on my experi- ence with the organization that represented county health officials in the 1990s that opposed an HSPA effort to have cause of death infor- mation disclosable by the state health department. The argument made at the neighborhood group wants to chart the number of cancer deaths to determine whether there's a cancer cluster downstream of where a pro- cessing plant discharges its effluent – sorry, you're out of luck. if there is any trend among childhood deaths – sorry, the county's saving money. Environmentalists want Child advocates want to see time – I swear it's true – was that without secrecy county health doctors might not put the actual cause of death in the official records due to pressure from or compassion for families of the deceased. In other words, they needed secrecy or they wouldn't put the truth down on paper. The losers are the citizens of Vanderburgh County. A to see if there is any link between cancer and potential water table contamination – sorry, the hurt feelings of some family members were a bigger issue. Every other county health department can easily rep- licate the process used by Vanderburgh County's health department to block causes of death from the press and the public. Check the status of access director and general counsel for HSPA. Steve Key is executive NAA calls for rejection of direct-mail proposal were created during the investiga- tion and thus could fall under the investigatory records category, but the definition of investigatory records in the Access to Public Records Act talks about records compiled in the course of the inves- tigation of a crime. Bloomington police might say I'm splitting hairs, but I believe the legislature intended for citizens to know how taxpayer dollars are spent and also intended to help police protect information to further the investigation of a crime. I believe the expense forms should be made available, but I could see BPD redacting certain facts from the documents to prevent the inves- tigation from being compromised. For example, the expense form might show the cost of airfare for a detective to fly to another state to compare notes with local police that have a similar disappearance. The cost of the flight should not soci ation of America called for the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission to reject a proposed nego- tiated services agree- ment between the Postal Service and direct-mail giant Valassis. NAA argues that the special rate proposal will cause significant finan- cial harm to newspapers throughout the country and will not improve the financial condition of the nation's postal system. The association's call The Newspaper As - was made in comments filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission, which is reviewing the agreement recently proposed by the Postal Service. "Since the days of Ben CONTENT Continued from Page 1 system could also allow HSPA to establish a clip- ping service that could serve as an additional revenue source for both the association and mem- ber newspapers. Participating newspa- be confidential, but the police could make an argument for the confiden- tiality of the location because public knowledge of this might tip off the criminal that police are closing the net a little tighter. Redacted copies of the expense report would give the public the ability to see how much this investi- gation has cost while not potentially damaging the investigation. tive director and general counsel, with media law questions at skey@ hspa.com or (317) 624-4427. Contact Steve Key, HSPA execu- pers would have access to an e-edition of their papers for website post- ing and e-tearsheets that could be emailed to customers along with an invoice, saving time and money in the billing process. "The system has the potential to bring additional services to member newspapers as well as a potential rev- enue source for both the association and member newspapers," said Steve Franklin – the first U.S. postmaster general as well as a newspaper pub- lisher – there have been strong ties between the U.S. Postal Service and America's newspapers," said Caroline H. Little, NAA president and chief executive officer. "But newspaper publishers are shocked by the spe- cifics of this special deal for the country's largest direct-mail company." The proposal to pro- vide steep discounts to a major newspaper com- petitor is a dagger aimed at the financial health of newspapers, Little said. NAA's filing detailed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. It specifically listed several points, including that the agreement: • Would cause unrea- sonable harm to the marketplace by granting Valassis unprecedented rebates and other terms that would enable and subsidize a direct attack on newspaper advertis- ing. • Would result in a in your county's certificates of death under IC 16-37-3-3. how the proposed Valas- sis agreement violates the statutory and regula- tory requirements under Key, executive director and general counsel for HSPA. The five entities, net financial loss to the Postal Service by driving substantial volumes of newspaper mailings out of the mail system to low- er-cost delivery services. • Would confer an unreasonable rate dis- crimination, granting one national mailer rebates as high as 36 percent. including three press associations, will make their pitch June 28 before the HSPA Content Management Committee in Indian apolis. In addition to West, committee members are Kim Wilson, publisher of the South Bend Tribune; Kathy Tretter, publisher of The Ferdinand News and the Spencer County Leader (Dale); and Robyn McCloskey, publisher of the Pharos-Tribune (Logansport) and Kokomo Tribune. HSPA President Greg Morris, publisher of the Indianapolis Business Journal, also plans to attend the meeting along with at least two repre- sentatives of out-of-state press organizations. Without publishing anything new, the Fayetteville Observer ad package created new, year-long revenue in just one week! Contact Advantage Newspaper Consultants today to learn more about creating NEW annual revenue with your existing core products. Fayetteville Observer's Platinum TV ad package exceeded revenue goal in less than a week! Ask us about our digital editions! 910-323-0349 | info@newspaperconsultants.com | www.newspaperconsultants.com