Migrants deaths and remains at Santa Cruz County • MuckRock

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Communications

From: Gabriela Villegas

03/21/2023

Subject: California Public Records Act Request: Migrants deaths and remains at Santa Cruz County

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To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

I am writing to request information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552. Specifically, I am seeking access to the following information regarding migrant remains that have been documented in your Medical Examiner Officer or Santa Cruz County Sheriff's files for fiscal years 2020 - 2022:

Age
Sex
Body condition
Coordinates where the body was located
Country of origin
Cause of death
I understand that these records may contain sensitive information, and I assure you that any information provided will be used solely for legitimate research purposes.

Please inform me of any fees associated with this request, and I would be happy to provide payment if necessary. Additionally, please let me know if there are any limitations on the amount of information that can be provided, or if you require any further information from me to process this request.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at gvillegasrmz@gmail.com if you require further information or clarification.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Gabriela Villegas

From: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

03/23/2023

Subject: Your first record request #23-130 has been opened.

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Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

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Your first Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office record request (request number #23-130) has been submitted.
It is currently unpublished and is not available for the general public to view.

The due date for your request may be later than usual because the office is closed on:

* March 31: Cesar Chavez Day Holiday

Request #23-130.

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Questions about your request? Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. Technical support: See our <a href='https://help.nextrequest.com/knowledge/requester-resources'>help page</a>

From: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

03/27/2023

Subject: [External Message Added] Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office public records request #23-130

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Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

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A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-130:

Hello Gabriela

Can you clarify what you mean by "migrant remains?"

Sergeant Luna

From: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

03/27/2023

Subject: [External Message Added] Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office public records request #23-130

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Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

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A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-130:

Hello Gabriela

Can you clarify what you mean by "migrant remains?"

Sergeant Luna

From: Gabriela Villegas

03/28/2023

Subject: RE: California Public Records Act Request #23-130

Portal

Good morning.

I said, "Migrant remains" as the bodies or skeletal remains of migrants who have died during their journey or after arriving at their destination.

From: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

04/03/2023

Subject: [External Message Added] Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office public records request #23-130

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Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

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A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-130:

Gabriel,

Pursuant to California Government Code section 7922.535, we write in response to the email dated 3-22-23 that you sent to the County of Santa Cruz under the California Public Records Act, which was sent to the County via email (the “Requests”). We are submitting this response within the ten day period for response set out in Government Code section 7922.535. We note that the Requests are limited only to records maintained in the normal course of business by the County and records that are in the County’s custody and control.

Please note that we will not produce records that are privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure pursuant to California Government Code section 7927.200 and 7927.705. This includes documents pertaining to pending litigation or claims, and documents protected by the attorney-client privilege, attorney work product, and official information privileges.

No preliminary drafts or memorandum not normally kept in the ordinary course of business will be produced pursuant to California Government Code section 7927.500. Records concerning real estate appraisals for pending acquisitions are also exempt from disclosure under California Government Code section 7928.705.

We will not produce documents that are subject to copyright protections, contain trade secrets, and/or proprietary and/or confidential information. See California Government Code sections 7922.570-7922.580, 7927.705, 7922.585; California Evidence Code section 1060.

Moreover, we will not produce documents exempt from disclosure under the deliberative process privilege. See Times Mirror Co. v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 1325.

No documents will be produced where “the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest by the disclosure of the record” under California Government Code section 7922.000. Additionally, no documents will be produced if they contain personnel, medical, private, confidential, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under California Government Code section 7927.700 and/or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. And, to the extent any of the records you are requesting are the subject of ongoing litigation and/or pending investigations, and/or are law enforcement investigatory records, such records are exempt from production. See Government Code sections 7927.200, 7923.600-7923.625.

In addition, no documents or records will be produced to the extent such a production would violate California Penal Code §§ 832.7, 832.8, 11076, California Civil Code § 129, California Welfare and Intuitions Code §§ 827, 828, 831, California Business and Professions Code § 805, or California Evidence Code § 1043.

Furthermore, as we review your Requests, we may discover other applicable privileges and/or exemptions under the Government Code, or other applicable state or federal laws, and we reserve all rights to assert those at any time.

After a review, the County responds as follows:

The County of Santa Cruz, inclusive of the Sheriff’s Office and Health Services Department, do not maintain death data. All deaths are recorded in a Death Master File (DMF), commonly known as the Social Security Death Index. The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Technical Information Services (NTIS) issued a final rule, effective November 28, 2016, regarding who has access to that file (the final rule is available at Limited Access Death Master File Certification Program (Publication 100) (ntis.gov). The final rule states that any individual, corporations, companies, private organizations, etc. desiring access to the Limited Access DMF must be certified in order to receive it. If you are able to obtain certification or have that certification, you would be able to seek the records directly from the state or federal government.

Pursuant to the federal regulation governing the dissemination of the Protected Health Information (PHI) of deceased persons: “A covered entity must comply with the requirements of this subpart with respect to the protected health information of a deceased individual for a period of 50 years following the death of the individual” {45 C.F.R. Section 164.502(f)}. Santa Cruz County is a “hybrid Covered Entity”. The information in those records would be considered protected, non-public PHI. At this time, there are no applicable exceptions that would allow us to share the information in response to a Public Records Act request, even if we had it in our possession {45 C.F.R. Section 164.500, et seq.}.

After a review, the County has determined that it does not have records responsive to your request. Please contact me if you have any questions. As always, the County reserves all rights.

As always, the County reserves all rights.

Kind regards,

Sergeant S. Luna

From: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

04/03/2023

Subject: Your Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office public records request #23-130 has been closed.

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Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

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Record request #23-130 has been closed. The closure reason supplied was:

The record you asked for does not exist. Please contact [phone/email] so that we can assist you in making a focused and effective request that reasonably describes an identifiable record.

From: Gabriela Villegas

04/10/2023

Subject: RE: California Public Records Act Request #23-130

Portal

Hi,

Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Gabriela Villegas

Files

There are no files associated with this request.

Submitted	March 21, 2023
Est. Completion	None