US EditionKansas county agrees to pay $3 million over police raid on a small-town newspaper, editor says
Marion County agreed to pay $3 million to journalists and a city councilor after 2023 raids, with sheriff's office expressing regret and gaining legal immunity.
- Marion County's board of commissioners approved Monday agreements to pay $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor over the Aug. 11, 2023 raid on the Marion County Record.
- A search warrant tied the raid to a dispute with a local restaurant owner and the operation was led by Marion's police chief, with five cases consolidated into a single federal lawsuit prompting settlements.
- The county agreed to pay Eric Meyer $1.5 million, Ruth Herbel $650,000, Phyllis Zorn $600,000, and Deb Gruver $250,000, with insurance covering most costs but Meyer receiving $50,000 directly; Gruver settled an unrelated suit earlier this year for $235,000.
- Monday's deals settle Marion County's obligations within four federal lawsuits and grant immunity related to Aug. 11, 2023 searches, with Sheriff Jeff Soyez, Detective Aaron Christner, and Undersheriff Larry Starkey available for official interviews.
- Eric Meyer said `The money is symbolic` and indicated he hopes the size of the payment is large enough to discourage similar actions, while he and others remain 1900% convinced they will go to trial with the city; the Marion County Sheriff's Office expressed `sincere regrets` in two agreements.
88 Articles
88 Articles
Kansas Editor Hopes $3 Million Payout for Police Raids Stops Future Attacks on Press
"In our democracy, the press is a watchdog against abuse," said Marion County Record publisher Eric Meyer. "If the watchdog itself is the target of abuse, and all it does is roll over, democracy suffers.”
County to Pay $3M Over Police Raid on Newspaper
A rural Kansas county has agreed to pay a little more than $3 million and apologize over a law enforcement raid on a small-town weekly newspaper in August 2023 that sparked an outcry over press freedom, the paper's editor said Tuesday. Marion County was among multiple defendants in five federal...
A Kansas county agrees to pay out $3 million and apologize for a raid on a small-town newspaper
By Cindy Von Quednow, CNN (CNN) — A county in Kansas has agreed to pay more than $3 million and apologize for a 2023 raid on a small-town newspaper. Monday’s agreement stems from the August 2023 search of the Marion County Record, as well as the home of the paper’s publisher and a councilwoman, seizing reporters’ cell phones and computers, among other items. The raid triggered widespread condemnation from news organizations and press freedom adv…
A Kansas county agrees to pay out $3 million and apologize for a raid on a small town newspaper
A county in Kansas has agreed to pay more than $3 million and apologize to plaintiffs in lawsuits in connection to a raid on a small-town newspaper, the newspaper’s editor and publisher told CNN.
Kansas county to pay $3M over newsroom raid: 'Why did it take so long?'
More than two years after police launched an unprecedented raid on a small Kansas newspaper, the county where the raids occurred will pay $3 million as part of a civil judgment. The money will go to three journalists and a former city council member. In August 2023, the Marion Police Department, with help from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, conducted raids on the Marion County Record newspaper, the publisher’s home and a former member of th…
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