The initial online search that spurred a raid on a Kansas paper was legal, a state agency says

Описание: (22 Aug 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marion, Kansas, United States - 21 August 2023
1. Seized newspaper headline
2. Marion County Record sign
3. Newspapers hanging in window
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Meyer, Marion County Record editor and publisher:
“If they thought they were intimidating us, they were wrong. We are in fact, today, in about a few minutes, we're going to release the results of our investigation of Chief Cody on our website. And we're going to post it because other people have been starting to post some of it and we did not do so. We did, however, warn the city about it. We warned them before they'd hired him. We're hearing all these really bad things and they said, oh, no, you're not, basically. We've already checked except we found out they hadn't checked.”
5. "Keep Going" window sign
6. Newspapers in window
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Meyer, Marion County Record editor and publisher:
“It's important to establish this precedent. It's important to say this, particularly for newspapers that don't have the benefit of having a somebody with my experience here or the experience of our staff, who might be very easily intimidated by the thought that this could happen to me. Doesn't even have to happen for them to be intimidated by it. And we need to let them know that they shouldn't be intimidated.”
8. Newspapers next to Constitution booklet
9. Joan Meyer memorial
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Meyer, Marion County Record editor and publisher:
“But are we going to sue? Yes, we will. Not to do anything. In fact, if we receive anything beyond whatever it is it's cost us by doing this, we'll be donating it.”
11. Marion City Building sign
12. People gathered at council meeting
13. Marion City Council
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Darvin Mackley, Marion resident:
“As far as Chief Cody goes, he can take his high horse he brought into this community and giddy-up on out of town. The man needs to go, he should’ve been fired. Part of my problem is before I come down here, I watched the news media about Joan Meyers. Take a look at it.”

STORYLINE:
The initial online search of a state website that led a central Kansas police chief to raid a local weekly newspaper was legal, a spokesperson for the agency that maintains the site said Monday, as the newspaper remains under investigation.

Earlier this month, after a local restaurant owner accused the Marion County Record of illegally accessing information about her, the Marion police chief obtained warrants to search the newspaper's offices and the home of its publisher, as well as the home of a City Council member who had some of the same information as the newspaper.

The police chief led the Aug. 11 raids and said in the affidavits used to obtain the warrants that he had probable cause to believe that the newspaper and the City Council member had violated state laws against identity theft or computer crimes.

Both City Council member Ruth Herbel and the newspaper have said they received a copy of a document about the status of the restaurant owner's license without soliciting it. The document disclosed the restaurant's license number and her date of birth, information required to check the status of a person's license online and gain access to a more complete driving record. The police chief maintains they broke state laws to do that, while the newspaper and Herbel's attorneys say they didn't.





Cody did not attend the meeting and did not respond to email and cellphone messages seeking a response to Markley's comments.


“The website is public facing, and anyone can use it,” he said.





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