Marion, Kansas, city officials agreed to pay $235,000 to remove the former police chief from a federal lawsuit filed by Deb Gruver, a former reporter for Marion County Record. Last year, the police invaded the newspaper’s headquarters, seizing computers, the newspaper’s file server and even personal cell phones. The police also raided the home of the newspaper’s owners. The raid came after local business owner Kari Newell acknowledged at a city council meeting that she continued to drive after her license was suspended for a drunk driving conviction. Newell accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining his driving record. The newspaper said it received a tip about the DUI and confirmed the allegations through public records, but decided not to publish the story, only reporting the allegations after Newell raised the issue at a public meeting. But Chief Gideon Cody, who led the operation, said he had evidence that the newspaper, one of its reporters and a city council member committed computer crimes to access Newell’s driving record. A local judge signed an order to that effect, which the county attorney later withdrew. Gruver’s lawsuit is one of five federal lawsuits generated by the raid, and she is still suing the Marion County sheriff and the county prosecutor.
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