Seized items returned to Marion County Record

A search warrant that led to the raid on a Marion, Kansas newspaper on Friday, Aug. 11 was withdrawn today.

According to reports, Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey withdrew the warrant that served as the basis for the raid of the Marion County Record by the Marion Police Department and Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Bernie Rhodes, an attorney representing the newspaper, said all items that were seized have been released back to an attorney representing the newspaper.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said its investigation will move forward independently.

As reported by the Kansas Reflector (https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/11/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-ma…), "In an unprecedented raid Friday, law enforcement seized computers, cellphones and reporting materials from the Marion County (Kansas) Record office, the newspaper’s reporters, and the publisher’s home. Eric Meyer, owner and publisher of the newspaper, said police were motivated by a confidential source who leaked sensitive documents to the newspaper, and the message was clear: 'Mind your own business or we’re going to step on you.'"

According to Meyer, the city’s police officers and two sheriff’s deputies took “everything we have."

The Kansas Reflector reported: "The search warrant, signed by Marion County District Court Judge Judge Laura Viar, appears to violate federal law that provides protections against searching and seizing materials from journalists. The law requires law enforcement to subpoena materials instead."

Meyer said he had never heard of police raiding a newspaper office during his 20 years at the Milwaukee Journal or 26 years teaching journalism at the University of Illinois.

“It’s going to have a chilling effect on us even tackling issues,” Meyer said, as well as “a chilling effect on people giving us information.”

For more information, see https://highlandcountypress.com/updated-sad-day-kansas-and-america#gsc…