The Marion County Record will get its equipment back soon after a law enforcement search warrant late last week.
In an update Wednesday, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said its investigation “remains open.” However, after work with the Marion County Attorney’s Office, the KBI has decided to move forward independently — and it says it will not review or examine any of the evidence seized from The Record on Friday.
Speaking of the evidence, the Marion County Attorney’s Office has confirmed to KVOE News it has withdrawn the warrant used to buttress the search. The KBI says it will work with The Record to return all its equipment, including computers and cell phones, after the raid at the newspaper office and publisher Eric Meyer’s home.
The raid apparently has at least some origins in a newspaper investigation into Marion restaurant owner Kari Newell. The Record obtained copies of Newell’s driving record including a 2008 conviction for DUI. The paper did not run a story specifically on Newell’s record after what it said was information coming from an unnamed source and leading to public records, but it reported on Newell’s complaints during a City Council meeting where she confirmed both a DUI and driving with a suspended license.
Any connection between a Record investigation into the background of new Police Chief Gideon Cody has not been determined, although the investigation was underway at the time of the search.
Cody says the raid was conducted legally, with officers looking for evidence of an illegal computer search to confirm information about Newell. Media and civil rights organizations have roundly condemned the raid, saying officers violated First Amendment rights.
The Record published its weekly paper — on time — Wednesday for the first time since the raid.
