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Settlement over newspaper raid
Marion County agreed to pay just over $3 million and issue an apology to resolve claims stemming from an August 2023 law-enforcement raid on the Marion County Record, a small weekly newspaper.
“A rural Kansas county agreed to pay a little more than $3 million and issue an apology over an August 2023 law-enforcement raid on the Marion County Record that touched off a national debate over press freedom.”
The five-page county settlement allocates $1 million to the estate of publisher Eric Meyer's 98-year-old mother, $1.1 million to be split among Meyer and several newspaper staffers, and $650,000 to former council member Ruth Herbel, while claims against the city and its officials remain unresolved.
Plaintiffs and their attorneys said the apology mattered as much as the money and framed the settlement as a deterrent to future raids on newsrooms.
Raid on local newspaper
Marion County sheriff's deputies worked with Marion city police in the raid.
Deputies helped draft search warrants used to enter the newspaper's offices, the home of publisher Eric Meyer, and the home of former city council member Ruth Herbel.
Authorities seized cellphones and computers and searched reporters' desks.
Court filings and reporting said the warrants related both to a dispute with a local restaurant owner over her driving record and to the paper's coverage of the police chief who led the raid.
Legal fallout from raid
The raid prompted five federal lawsuits and extensive legal scrutiny.
“Two special prosecutors later concluded the Record, its staff and Herbel had committed no crimes and that the warrants contained inaccurate information from an inadequate investigation.”
Two special prosecutors concluded that the Record, its staff and former council member Herbel had committed no crimes and that the warrants relied on inaccurate information and an inadequate investigation.
The county settlement resolves only county claims and leaves lawsuits against the city and city officials pending.
Local legal experts and press advocates criticized the raid as likely violating Kansas' reporter shield law and the First Amendment.
Raid claims and consequences
The human toll and the dispute over causation have featured prominently in coverage.
Publisher Eric Meyer says the stress of the raid contributed to the death of his 98-year-old mother, Joan, who died of a heart attack the day after the searches.
Bodycam footage shown in some reports captured her distress during the search.
News outlets present this as Meyer's claim and as corroborating footage rather than a judicial finding of causation.
The settlement assigns $1 million to Joan Meyer's estate.
Lawsuit, settlements, and fallout
Plaintiffs' lawyers described the suit's aim as deterrence.
“Newspaper attorney Bernie Rhodes said the suit’s goal was deterrence: to make future officers think twice before raiding newsrooms.”
Meyer said the action was intended to harass the paper.
He and his attorneys suggested some settlement funds might be used to sustain the newspaper or support young journalists.
Local reporting highlights administrative and criminal fallout.
The county commission approved the settlement and the sheriff issued an apology.
The police chief who ordered the raid resigned and faces a separate criminal charge.