Appellate Case No. 2012-212669

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Joe Perry, a reporter for The Item, a newspaper, sent a FOIA request to Harvin Bullock, the Sumter County Coroner, for the report of the autopsy performed on Aaron Leon Jacobs. Sumter County denied Perry's request on the basis that pursuant to the FOIA, the autopsy report is a "medical record" and is therefore by definition not a public record subject to disclosure.

Perry, along with Osteen Publishing Company, Inc. (collectively, Appellants), filed this declaratory judgment action against Bullock in his official capacity as Sumter County Coroner. Appellants sought injunctive relief, alleging the autopsy report is not a medical record and therefore must be disclosed pursuant to the FOIA. Appellants therefore requested production of the records and attorney's fees.

Bullock answered, asserting the records are exempt from the FOIA as medical records. He also asserted the records are subject to the authorization and consent provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104–191, 110 Stat. 1936 (HIPAA) and...