Request for deaths records (Fresno County Sheriff's Office)
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
20-098 |
| Multi Request | Request for deaths records |
| Submitted | June 16, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Matt Kiefer
To whom it may concern:
This is a request pursuant to the California Public Records Act. We are requesting death records dating back to Jan. 1, 2020, with the following information for each case:
- case number
- decedent name
- date of death
- location of death
- race
- ethnicity
- age
- gender
- occupation/industry
- whether injury/infection occurred at work
- incident location (street address, city, state, ZIP where injury/infection occurred)
- incident date
- decedent residence (street address, city, state, ZIP)
- cause(s) of death (indicating if COVID related)
- contributing factors
- any other accessible, non-exempt information contained in electronic case records
This request is part of an ongoing collaboration involving the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University, the MuckRock Foundation and partner newsrooms across the country. This request is part of a news-gathering process and is intended for educational, not commercial use.
We request expedited processing to the extent possible. This information is critical to the public’s understanding of the coronavirus pandemic and its local impact on public health. Let us know if we can help clarify this request in any way. Please also consider waiving any fees for producing the requested records.
Please provide the data in spreadsheet format as an e-mail attachment.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. We look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.
--
Matt Kiefer
John S. Knight Journalism Fellow
Stanford University
312-380-5163
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following California Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 16, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Fresno County Sheriff's Office
Yes, we have received your request and it has been placed in our log. We will work to fulfill it in the order it was received.
Thank you,
Tony Botti
Fresno County Sheriff - Coroner's Office PIO
(559) 600-8137 – Office
(559) 977-0379 – Cell
tony.botti@fresnosheriff.org
www.fresnosheriff.org<http://www.fresnosheriff.org>

From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following California Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 16, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Fresno County Sheriff's Office
Good afternoon Matt,
This request was sent to me for review and determination of the next course of action. After reviewing what you are requesting, I have some clarifying questions for you as it will determine what information we need to gather.
It appears you are requesting all death records for Fresno County since the beginning of the year.
This would include car accidents, suicides, homicides, natural deaths etc.
There have been 2,076 deaths as of June 30, 2020.
Of those, 523 have Coroner reports associated with them.
Each Coroner report is $84.55.
523 reports * $84.55 = $44, 219.65
Is this what you are asking for? If so, we will need payment for that prior to gathering and redacting these records.
Now, if I am understanding your implied request correctly, it appears you are specifically looking for a cause of death attributed to/caused by COVID-19.
Understand there is a difference between dying WITH COVID-19 (meaning someone tested positive for the virus) and dying FROM COVID-19 (meaning this is what killed someone and is considered the cause of death-like cancer, heart disease, complications from diabetes etc.).
I’m being specific about this because the Coroner’s determination of cause of death (COD) has such a substantial impact on a number of things including insurance policies, responsibility for liability etc., that most are VERY SPECIFIC when listing a cause of death.
I can advise the Fresno County Coroner’s Office has NO reported deaths FROM COVID-19 (refer to above description).
There have been deaths of people WITH COVID-19.
So, please advise what information you are specifically looking for related to your request and we will try to get it to you as quickly as possible.
Be advised that we will not be able to create a document with each piece of information you requested and will simply provide you with the reports and the information that has historically been in them, if you want.
Please let me know what else I can do to help clarify this request.
Thank you,
Frances
[FSO Badge 1]
Lieutenant Frances Devins
Public Records Act Unit Commander
ICS Unit Commander
Fresno County Sheriff’s Office
Office: 559.600.8617
Fax: 559.488.1899
Email: frances.devins@fresnosheriff.org
Web: www.fresnosheriff.org<http://www.fresnosheriff.org/>
Begin forwarded message:
From: Fresno County Sheriff's Office
Good Afternoon,
Please see the attached regarding your Public Records Act request.
Thank you,
B. Bailey
Special Investigator
Public Records Act Unit
2200 Fresno Street, Room 150
Fresno, CA 93717
Office Phone (559) 600-8695
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From: Fresno County Sheriff's Office
Good Morning,
Please see the attached regarding your Public Records Act request.
Thank you,
Beth Bailey
Special Investigator
Public Records Act Unit
2200 Fresno Street, Room 150
Fresno, CA 93717
Office Phone (559) 600-8695
[cid:image001.png@01D9D59A.70702D60]
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image001
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