In order to resolve a portion of her federal case about a police raid on the weekly Kansas newspaper that brought attention to a tiny town and sparked a national discussion about press freedom, a former reporter for the daily has agreed to accept $235,000.
Deb Gruver, a former reporter for the Marion County Record, sued the Marion County sheriff and the county prosecutor, two more authorities, over the raid.
The settlement dropped the former chief of police from her case. Gruver’s legal action is one of five federal lawsuits that the county, the city, and eight active or retired law enforcement or political officials are the targets of over the raid.
Emails sent on Friday asking for comment were not immediately answered by Gruver’s lawyer. The former chief, the city, its insurance provider, and other attorneys all declined to comment, but after the Record filed an open records request, the attorneys provided a copy of the settlement agreement from June 25.
The raid on the newspaper’s office, publisher Eric Meyer’s house, and the residence of a former city council member who had been critical of the then-mayor was spearheaded by former police chief Gideon Cody on August 11, 2023.
The Record is well-known for its active coverage of local government in Marion, a city of about 1,900 people located 150 miles (241 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, Missouri, amid rolling prairie hills.
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At the time, Cody claimed to have proof that the city council member, reporter Phyllis Zorn, and the newspaper had engaged in identity theft or other computer crimes to get a local company owner’s driving record. His targets all denied any criminal activity, and no charges were ever brought against them.
Meyer and the newspaper filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the raid contributed to his mother’s death the following day. Meyer’s attorney and the paper’s attorney have both argued that Cody’s retaliation to the publication looking into his background was the raid.
Gruber was investigating Cody’s background, but she had nothing to do with the driving record, so Cody took her personal phone and searched her desk.
Less than two months after the raid, in early October, Cody resigned as chief amid widespread indignation over the raid. Lawyers have concluded that there’s a good chance the raid broke federal or state law.
