Sheriff’s office copied raided Kansas newspaper’s data; lawyer will ask sheriff to destroy it
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Kansas newspaper controversy
A police raid Friday on a local newspaper in Marion, Kansas, sparked First Amendment concerns across the country.
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Marion County authorities copied data from one or more computers seized from the Marion County Record and failed to delete the information, the newspaper’s lawyer alleges.
Police seized more than a dozen items Aug. 11 from the newspaper and two private residences. Five days later, the items were returned after Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey concluded there was “insufficient evidence” for the raids.
But the Marion County Sheriff’s Office copied 17 gigabytes of the newspaper’s data, which it retained, according to the Record’s attorney Bernie Rhodes, who also represents The Star.
The USB drive the information was copied onto was not obtained during the raid, but belonged to the sheriff’s office. Because the device had been used in other investigations, it could not be released to the newspaper, Rhodes said Thursday.
The USB drive was listed on a property receipt released by the 8th District Court, but it was not among items handed over to the paper’s forensic examiner. In a stern letter Wednesday to the county’s counselor, Rhodes demanded the sheriff delete the Record’s data.
“Because that drive is still in the Sheriff’s Office’s custody, that means the Sheriff still has access to the Marion County Record’s data—data that is both constitutionally-protected and protected by federal and state law,” Rhodes wrote.
Rhodes also said the sheriff’s office failed to comply with a judge’s order for authorities to return everything that was seized from the newspaper. In his letter, Rhodes threatened to file a motion seeking to hold Sheriff Jeff Soyez in contempt of court.
The sheriff did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday morning.
Rhodes sent the letter, he wrote, after repeatedly trying to get Marion County Counselor Bradley Jantz on the phone to no avail. They have since spoken, though, and Rhodes has decided to seek a court order compelling authorities to destroy the Record’s information contained on the drive.
It’s unclear what the 17 gigabytes of information contained. Rhodes said he won’t know until they get a copy of the data.
The town’s police department, as well as the sheriff’s office, executed search warrants at the newsroom, the home of its publisher and the house of a city councilwoman under the pretense that a reporter had illegally obtained information about the DUI conviction of a local restaurateur who applied for a liquor license.
The reporter used a driver’s license website to verify information that the Kansas Department of Revenue said is open to the public.
This story was originally published August 24, 2023 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Sheriff’s office copied raided Kansas newspaper’s data; lawyer will ask sheriff to destroy it."
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