INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The Indiana Supreme Court has been asked to hear an appeal of a southwestern Indiana judge's ruling that cause-of-death information is not public record.
Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed the request this week in a case involving the Evansville Courier & Press  and the Vanderburgh County Health Department.
 
The newspaper and Pike County resident Rita Ward sued the health department to gain access to the death certificate information in 2012. A local judge sided with the county, and the state Court of Appeals upheld his ruling.
 
The petition from Zoeller's office says the ruling goes against state policy.
 
The Indiana Coalition for Open Government and the Hoosier State Press Association have both filed friend of the court petitions urging the Supreme Court to settle the matter.