Mortality Data and Related Policies, 2000-2020 • MuckRock

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Communications

From: COVID Prison Project

05/19/2021

Subject: Wyoming Public Records Act Request: Mortality Data and Related Policies, 2000-2020

Portal

Public Records Designee
Wyoming Department of Corrections
1934 Wyott Drive, Suite 100
Cheyenne, WY 82002

To the Public Records Designee:

Pursuant to the Wyoming Sunshine Law, §16-4-201 et seq., I hereby request the following records:

– Those which include time and date of all instances of death occurring in the offender population between January 2000 and December 2020.

– Those which indicate the total number of individuals in Wyoming Department of Corrections (WDOC) custody who died by any cause, separated monthly, from January 2000 to December 2020.

– Monthly population records that include the total number of deaths occurring among people in the custody of the WDOC between January 2000 and December 2020.

– Final reports of death for all individuals in WDOC custody who died between January 2000 and December 2020.

Additionally, I am requesting an opportunity to inspect or obtain copies of any and all WDOC policies, regulations, and procedures, pertaining to...

– Investigations of in-custody deaths.

– Requirements for the performance of an autopsy or post-mortem medical examination of individuals who die while in WDOC custody.

– The reporting of in-custody deaths to other governmental agencies.

– Next-of-kin notification in the event of in-custody deaths.

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. However, we respectfully request a waiver of these fees as we are affiliated with an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, and this request is made for a scholarly or scientific purpose and not for a commercial use.

If you choose to deny this request, please provide a written explanation for the denial including a reference to the specific statutory exemption(s) upon which you rely. Also, please provide all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material.

Thank you in advance for considering this request.

Sincerely,

Forrest Behne
Policy Director, COVID Prison Project
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Office: (919) 391-7962
340 MacNider Hall | Campus Box 7240
333 South Columbia Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7240

From: Department of Corrections

05/19/2021

Subject: Your first record request #21-147 has been opened.

Portal

Wyoming Department of Corrections

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Hi there

Your first Wyoming Department of Corrections record request (request number #21-147) has been submitted.
It is currently unpublished and is not available for the general public to view.

In compliance with the Wyoming Public Records Act, this letter is your 7 day response to your request for access to public records which was received by Wyoming Department of Corrections (WDOC) on the date listed in this response.

The WDOC is compiling and reviewing the records in response to your request. The WDOC must extend the response time of your request from seven (7) days to thirty (30) days due to the high volume of public record request we receive. Once prepared, fee payment is due if needed. You will be notified if any fees apply and any work that is completed that requires no charge will be provided. Please do not hesitate to contact the WDOC through this system if we can be of further assistance.

Request #21-147.

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Questions about your request? Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Wyoming Department of Corrections. Technical support: See our <a href='https://www.nextrequest.com/support'>help page</a>

From: Department of Corrections

06/15/2021

Subject: [External Message Added] Wyoming Department of Corrections public records request #21-147

Portal

Wyoming Department of Corrections

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Hi there

A message was sent to you regarding record request #21-147:

Hello,

I should be able to provide you with most of your requested information. Our Death of an Inmate Policy will be heavily redacted and we do not track offender deaths, only inmates. Lastly, should you wish to proceed with the investigations that occurred for every inmate death over the time frame you provided it will be potentially expensive. Each inmate death is thoroughly investigated and the release of those documents would take many hours of review and contain heavy redactions. I would estimate that this could cost between $400 to $800 dollars.

The first $180 of fee is waved but once we hit our $180 limit we would need payment to continue. All records complied up to that point would be released to you. I am going to pause your request until I hear if you would like us to proceed with providing those investigations. I believe that the rest of your request can be completed without the investigations into inmate deaths for under the $180 limit.

Thank you,

From: Department of Corrections

07/15/2021

Subject: Your Wyoming Department of Corrections public records request #21-147 has been closed.

Portal

Wyoming Department of Corrections

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Hi there

Record request #21-147 has been closed. The closure reason supplied was:

We closed this request after we were unable to contact you to assist you in making a focused and effective request that reasonably describes an identifiable record or obtained your approval to move forward knowing the cost that this would incur.

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