Police raid Marion County Record newsroom and publisher's home in Kansas
Police in Marion, Kansas, led by Chief Gideon Cody, raided the Marion County Record's newsroom and publisher Eric Meyer's home, seizing computers, phones and files, on a warrant tied to an identity-theft investigation. The paper's 98-year-old co-owner, Joan Meyer, died the next day; a special prosecutor later found no evidence the paper had committed a crime.1
- Country
- United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)
- Where
- United States
- Level of government
- Municipal
- Tactics
- Surveillance and subpoenas, Detention and violence
- Stage
- Punish (see the ladder)
- Head of government at the time
- Laura Kelly
- Issue of the day
- The Record had been investigating the driving record of local restaurant owner Kari Newell, who had accused the paper of accessing her personal information without authorization, the claim the search warrant cited as its basis.
- Outcome
- Reversed, August 5, 2024. Special prosecutors found no evidence Record reporters had committed a crime and moved to charge former police chief Gideon Cody.
- Era
- The 2020s
What happened
On August 11, 2023, Marion, Kansas police chief Gideon Cody led officers in searches of the Marion County Record's newsroom and the home of its publisher, Eric Meyer, seizing computers, servers, backup drives, cellphones and reporting files. The warrant cited an investigation into identity theft and unauthorized computer use tied to restaurant owner Kari Newell, whose driving record the paper had examined while verifying a tip. Eric Meyer's 98-year-old mother and Record co-owner, Joan Meyer, collapsed and died the day after the raid; the newspaper's staff attributed her death to the stress it caused. Local prosecutors withdrew the search warrants five days later, saying the evidence did not establish a sufficient link between the alleged crime and the newsroom. A special prosecutor's investigation released in August 2024 found no evidence Record reporters had committed a crime and said Cody would face a charge of obstructing the judicial process.12345
What reason was given
The warrant cited a criminal investigation into identity theft and unlawful use of a computer connected to how the Record had obtained information about Kari Newell's driving record.12345
What changed for reporting
The newspaper lost its computers, servers and reporting files for the length of the investigation, and the raid drew national attention to the use of search warrants against a working newsroom over a routine reporting inquiry.25
Timeline
2023
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Gideon Cody | ordered | Chief of Police, Marion, Kansas, 2023 |
| Marion Police Department | enforced | Municipal police department |
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| Marion County Record | outlet | affected |
| Eric Meyer | journalist, Marion County Record | affected |
| Joan Meyer | journalist, Marion County Record | affected |
Sources
- Police stage raid on Marion County newspaper, seizing computers, records and cellphones
- Police chief suspended after Kansas newspaper office raid
- Findings released Monday on 2023 police raid of Marion County Record newspaper
Claims cited
- Police raided the Marion County Record's office and publisher Eric Meyer's home, seizing computers and records.
Mind your own business or we're going to step on you.
Police stage raid on Marion County newspaper, seizing computers, records and cellphones, Kansas Reflector, 2023-08-11. Claim 343, checked 2026-09-22. - The Kansas Press Association's director said the raid infringed on journalists' rights and the public's right to know.
An attack on a newspaper office through an illegal search is not just an infringement on the rights of journalists but an assault on the very foundation of democracy and the public's right to know.
Police stage raid on Marion County newspaper, seizing computers, records and cellphones, Kansas Reflector, 2023-08-11. Claim 344, checked 2026-09-22. - The prosecutor withdrew the search warrants, saying the evidence did not sufficiently connect the alleged crime to the places and items searched.
insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.
Findings released Monday on 2023 police raid of Marion County Record newspaper, WIBW, 2024-08-05. Claim 345, checked 2026-09-22. - Special prosecutors concluded reporters had not committed a crime and identified former chief Cody for obstruction charges.
There was no evidence of criminal conduct by the reporters who were involved in the case.
Findings released Monday on 2023 police raid of Marion County Record newspaper, WIBW, 2024-08-05. Claim 346, checked 2026-09-22. - Joan Meyer, the paper's 98-year-old co-owner, died the day after the raid; staff attributed her death to the stress it caused.
The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures
Findings released Monday on 2023 police raid of Marion County Record newspaper, WIBW, 2024-08-05. Claim 347, checked 2026-09-22.