The Cortez Journal is challenging what it considers to be an unwarranted fee request for public records.
Montezuma County Coroner Charlie Rosenbaugh has sought a $15 administrative fee for a copy of an autopsy report. Under Colorado open-records laws, autopsy reports are considered public records, and officials are prohibited from charging more than 25 cents per page for copies of such records.
The sought-after autopsy report from Rosenbaugh is for an inmate who died while in custody at the Montezuma County jail. A two-page preliminary report reveals Harrison M. Begay, 38, of Tonalea, Ariz., died inside holding cell four at the jail on Sunday, Oct. 27. He was the second inmate to die while in the sheriff's custody in four months.
The preliminary sheriff's report reveals that Begay was discovered inside the cell unconscious and not breathing about 3 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27. The same report indicates that deputies last checked on Begay about five-and-half hours earlier, about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell originally reported via his Facebook page that Begay was brought into the jail on a charge of trespassing about 1 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26. Spruell said the inmate was "highly intoxicated" at the time, so he was transported to the hospital for a medical clearance.
After being cleared at the hospital, the inmate was returned to the jail at an unspecified time. Spruell posted that Begay was finally booked inside the jail at 7 p.m. Saturday, and then placed on a medical watch.
"A medical watch requires detention staff to physically check on the prisoner every 30 minutes," Spruell posted to Facebook.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigations is reportedly examining the death, but sheriff's officials have declined to release any additional information, saying that the case remains under investigation.
Spruell routinely updates his Facebook page, often stating that inmates booked inside the 104-bed facility are "left in the care of the jail."
Rosenbaugh said the autopsy on Begay has been completed, and he demanded a $15 check be mailed to a post office box in Dolores to cover administrative costs. He said he was unable to accept the check at his office at the Montezuma County Courthouse on Main Street in Cortez. Upon receiving the check, Rosenbaugh said he would then provide the newspaper with a copy of the report.
The LaPlata County coroner routinely doesn't charge The Durango Herald any fee for autopsy or toxicology reports. Both the Journal and Herald are owned by Ballantine Communications.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
@tcbCortez