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Last updated on Thursday, January 30, 2014
(INDIANAPOLIS) - The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of a southwestern Indiana judge’s ruling that cause-of-death information is not public record.
No date has been scheduled for the hearing.
The Evansville Courier & Press and Pike County resident Rita Ward had sued the Vanderburgh County Health Department after it was denied access to the information in 2012.
The newspaper and Ward argued that death certificatesare public records , while the health department said state law requires it to restrict access to the information.
Senior Vanderburgh Circuit Court Judge Carl Heldt sided with the county last January. The newspaper appealed, but the state Court of Appeals upheld Heldt's decision in August. The Court of Appeals ruled the cause of death can be disclosed only under certain circumstances.
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