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Marion County Record newspapers with headline "Seized... but not silenced"

Kansas Reflector/Sherman Smith. Used with permission.

The 2023 police raid on the Marion County Record was an outrageous violation of press freedom.

In 2023, law enforcement officers in Marion, Kansas, raided a local newspaper office and its publisher and owners’ home. Police seized computers, cellphones, and other materials, and injured a journalist in the process. Record co-owner Joan Meyer, 98, died a day later.

The raid was connected to baseless charges against the newspaper under state computer crime laws. The charges were later dropped and the journalists cleared of all wrongdoing. But the illegal raid on the Record was a dramatic violation of press freedom that must not be repeated.

Featured Items

Marion County Record settlement: A step toward accountability
Marion County Record•Newsletter
Plus: FPF advocacy helps open immigration courts to press

Published Nov. 14, 2025 Freedom of the Press Foundation
Kansas county pays $3M for forgetting the First Amendment
Marion County Record•Article
Marion County cops got their First Amendment lesson the hard way. Police elsewhere should take note

Published Nov. 12, 2025 Caitlin Vogus
LAPD lies about attack on reporters
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Plus: Israel kills journalists in Gaza to silence reporting

Published Aug. 15, 2025 Freedom of the Press Foundation
A ‘massive failure’ in Kansas: Two years since the Marion County Record raid
Marion County Record•Article
Journalist Jessica McMaster looks back on her groundbreaking reporting on the raid

Published Aug. 11, 2025 Seth Stern
Local news fights press threats
Arrests/Prosecutions•Newsletter
Plus: When the First Amendment fails, try the Fifth

Published April 4, 2025 Freedom of the Press Foundation
Local news publishers share how they survived attacks on press freedom
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When authorities attacked their local newspapers for coverage with which they disagreed, the outlets themselves became the story

Published March 28, 2025 Max Abrams
Further accountability needed in Marion
Marion County Record•Newsletter
Special prosecutors this week finally released their report on last August’s police raid of the Marion County Record. The report recommends criminal charges against former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, and clears the Record and its reporters of wrongdoing.

Published Aug. 7, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation
FPF statement on special prosecutors’ report on Marion County Record raid
Search & Seizure•News Release
Accountability for the illegal raid is welcome — better late than never. But more is needed.

Published Aug. 5, 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation
Press freedom after Marion
Search & Seizure•Article
FPF spoke with the Lawfare podcast about the police raid on the Marion County Record and protections for journalists

Published Aug. 28, 2023 Freedom of the Press Foundation
Now is the time to stand with the Marion County Record. Here's how.
Search & Seizure•Article
Three ways you can support the Marion County Record and press freedom

Published Aug. 17, 2023 Caitlin Vogus