A rural Kansas county has agreed to pay more than $3 million and issue an apology following a controversial law enforcement raid on a small-town weekly newspaper in August 2023. The incident, which saw officers target the Marion County Record, ignited a significant outcry regarding press freedom.
Marion County was among multiple defendants named in five federal lawsuits initiated by the newspaper’s publishing company, its publisher Eric Meyer, the estate of his late mother Joan Meyer, the paper’s co-owner, employees and a former Marion City Council member whose residence was also searched.
Eric Meyer, who serves as both editor and publisher, expressed to The Associated Press his hope that the substantial settlement would deter similar actions against news organizations in the future. He stated, “The goal isn’t to get the money. The money is symbolic. The press has basically been under assault.”
Jeffrey Kuhlman, an attorney representing the county commission, the sheriff and his former deputy, didn’t immediately respond to a phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The raid triggered a national debate about press freedom focused on Marion, a town of about 1,900 people set among rolling prairie hills some 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, Missouri. Also, Meyer’s mother, who co-owned the newspaper and lived with him, died the day after the raid of a heart attack, which he blamed on the stress of the raid.
A search warrant tied the raid — which was led by Marion’s police chief — to a dispute between the newspaper and a local restaurant owner who had accused the Marion County Record of invading her privacy and illegally accessing information about her and her driving record.
Meyer has said believed the newspaper’s aggressive coverage of local politics and issues played a role and that his newsroom had been examining the police chief’s past work history.
