‘The world is watching,’ resident tells Marion City Council as it avoids talk of police raid

Marion City Council members left Monday’s meeting without answering questions about the police chief’s decision to raid a newspaper, its publisher’s home and a council member’s house based on a complaint by an angry restaurant owner.

But Ruth Herbel, the 80-year-old council member whose home was targeted by police Chief Gideon Cody, suggested the council will take up the issue at a later meeting. She told reporters that she agrees with calls for Cody to resign.

“They had no reason to come to my house and raid my house,” Herbel said in an interview with The Eagle. “They traumatized my husband. He has dementia, and he has a heart condition. I had to have a friend come and stay with him tonight because he was so upset, he just doesn’t want to be away from me.”

It was Marion’s first council meeting since the Aug. 11 raid, which has been condemned as illegal by press freedom groups.

Marion police and sheriff’s deputies executed search warrants for two houses and the Marion County Record’s newsroom, seizing computers, cellphones and other records in connection with an investigation into alleged identity theft and computer crimes against Marion restaurant owner Kari Newell, who was seeking a liquor license.

At an Aug. 7 Marion City Council meeting, Newell publicly accused the Record and Herbel of disseminating her “private and personal information that was illegally obtained by a local reporter.” State officials later confirmed to the Kansas City Star that the information is open to the public.

The Record had apparently looked up Newell’s driving license status on a public website to confirm allegations and documentation of Newell’s DUI history provided by a confidential source. Editor and publisher Eric Meyer ultimately decided not to publish the story and alerted police that the records provided by the source may have been unlawfully obtained.

Marion police knew the identity of the tipster — Pam Maag, a former emergency dispatcher and wife of a retired state trooper — who sent the document to Herbel and the Record. But they did not interview her nor did they get a warrant to search her home and seize her electronic devices, the Star reported Monday evening.

The city’s governing body had put the public on notice that it did not want to talk about it, writing on the meeting agenda “COUNCIL WILL NOT COMMENT ON THE ONGOING CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AT THIS MEETING,” followed by 47 exclamation points.

Mayor David Mayfield, a vocal critic of the Record and Herbel, is on vacation and did not attend, leaving Herbel to chair the meeting.

“There will be no comments made on the criminal investigation at this meeting, so don’t bother about asking any of the council members any questions,” Herbel said. “Do we have anyone who would like to speak?”

The warnings didn’t stop longtime Marion resident Darvin Markley, a member of the Marion planning and zoning board, from speaking about the elephant in the room.

“It’s the city’s responsibility to look out for the health and welfare of the citizens,” he said. “I don’t believe this has been followed. The city has been put into a huge financial liability with the issues going on.

“The world is watching Marion,” Markley said. “There has to be accountability for those involved.”

Markley called for the resignations of Mayfield, Cody and council member Zach Collett, who was in charge of looking into Cody’s background before hiring him. Mayfield and Cody did not attend the meeting. Collett did not respond to Markley’s comments from the council bench.

In the aftermath of the raid, Cody defended his actions, saying “when the rest of the story is available to the public, the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated.”

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey later revoked the search warrants — which had been sought by Cody and approved by Magistrate Judge Laura Viar — and returned the computers, cellphones, hard drives and other property that had been seized.

Eric Meyer said the stress of the raid on the home they shared contributed to the death of his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer. He has threatened to sue.

Herbel invited members of the public to sign up for notification “when the Marion City Council will be reviewing and acting on the Criminal Investigation at Regular or Special meeting.” No meeting has been scheduled.

This story was originally published August 21, 2023 at 9:47 PM.