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DEATH RECORDS KEPT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ARE EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE TO THE PETITIONER, A NON-PROFIT WHICH PROMOTES GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH (THIRD DEPT). ​

The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, over a two-justice dissent, determined petitioner’s request for the “New York State Death Index” through December 31, 2017, should have been denied:

Petitioner is a not-for-profit organization that promotes public access to government records for historical and genealogical purposes. Respondent is statutorily charged with “procur[ing] the faithful registration of . . . deaths,” except in the City of New York … .  * * *

While petitioner’s interest in seeking information to assist in genealogical research promotes a legitimate public interest, such a request does not “further the policies of FOIL, which are to assist the public in formulating intelligent, informed choices with respect to both the direction and scope of governmental activities” … . * * *

We agree with respondent’s contention that Public Health Law § 4174 (1) (a) provides an exemption authorizing the withholding of the requested information. That statute allows respondent to release “either a certified copy or a certified transcript of the record of any death” to seven specific categories of applicants. The provision concludes with a qualifier that “no certified copy or certified transcript of a death record shall be subject to disclosure under [FOIL]” … . The term certified transcript is broadly defined as “a computer generated or other reproduction of information abstracted from the original state or local record the elements of which shall be as determined by the commissioner and certified by the commissioner . . . as being an accurate abstract of information contained in the original record” … . We recognize that petitioners are not requesting copies of death certificates or any “certified” records. Even so, in our view, the import of the statute is to limit the disclosure of these records to applicants who fall within the defined categories, whose needs require that the records be certified. The express qualifier precludes a FOIL request otherwise made by a nonqualifying member of the general public. In this context, the statutory focus is not on the certification component but on maintaining the confidentiality of the underlying information … . Matter of Reclaim the Records v New York State Dept. of Health, 2024 NY Slip Op 02854, Third Dept 5-23-24

Practice Point: The Public Health Law  limits the disclosure of death records kept by the health department to specific categories of applicants and state the records are not subject to disclosure under FOIL. Here the request by a non-profit promoting genealogical research was denied in its entirety.

 

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