A new survey shows most Kansans believe former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody should be prosecuted for raiding a newspaper office, editor’s home and a city councilwoman’s home last year.

When asked to comment, the respondents had some choice words to describe the police action.

They called the raids illegal, messy, invasive, rushed, crooked, overzealous, insane, wrong, unfair, unnecessary, unjustified and unethical.

“Honestly, this upsets me that this even happened,” one of the respondents wrote. “It was all public information so they should not have even been investigated. It would make a local newspaper not want to investigate or report on such things because they might end up being arrested for something that’s not even illegal.”

Cody led police in the Aug. 11, 2023, raids after concluding that journalists and a city councilwoman committed crimes by obtaining a public driving record for Kari Newell, a Marion resident who operated a restaurant and had applied for a liquor license. The raids ignored federal and state laws and constitutional protections for a free press and against illegal searches and seizures.

Joan Meyer, the 98-year-old co-owner of the Marion County Record, died from cardiac arrest a day after police raided the home where she lived with her son, Eric, who is the editor and publisher of the newspaper.

Newspaper employees and the councilwoman have filed a combined five civil lawsuits in federal court in response to the raids. Special prosecutors who reviewed the situation cleared police of wrongdoing in the raids but charged Cody with obstruction of justice for asking Newell after the raid to delete text messages.

The Kansas Coalition for Open Government commissioned an online survey of 305 Kansas adults from Sept. 23 to Oct. 2 to collect their opinions about the raid. The survey provided background information, posed questions and asked for comments.

Emily Bradbury, a coalition member who also serves as president of the Kansas Press Association, said the survey supports the coalition’s position that the state should “prosecute those who orchestrated the raids.”

“Escaping criminal liability for the raids, despite officers so brazenly misconstruing public records as private information, is not only ineffective punishment for clear misconduct, but also a green light for officers to avoid liability for violating constitutional rights in the future merely by claiming they didn’t know any better,” Bradbury said.

Coda Ventures, based in Tennessee, conducted the survey, which has a margin of error of 5.6%. The online survey used a sample from Quest Mindshare, an Ontario, Canada, research company. Quotas were set for age, gender, education and geographic location, with the goal of providing an accurate representation of the Kansas adult population.

Of the 305 respondents, 54% were women, 32% were college graduates, 37% were married, 33% were Republicans, 22% were Democrats, and 34% were politically independent.

The survey, which found 39% were familiar with the situation, recounted facts leading up to the raids, including a journalist’s use of a Kansas Department of Revenue online database to verify a tip about Newell’s driving record.

In the survey, 67% said it was appropriate for the journalist to access the record, and 14% were unsure.

The survey told respondents that Cody investigated the situation and determined journalists and the councilwoman committed the following crimes: breach of privacy, identity theft, unlawful use of a communication facility (KDOR), official misconduct, witness intimidation, interferences with law enforcement, and performance of an unauthorized official act.

In response, 48% said Cody was unjustified in believing the targets of the raid had broken the law. But 41% supported his belief, and 11% were unsure.

Only 23% said the raids were justified, while 63% said they were unjustified and 14% were unsure.

Half of the respondents faulted special prosecutors for concluding Cody shouldn’t be prosecuted because he truly believed the journalists and councilwoman had broken the law. And 62% said Cody should be prosecuted, while 22% said he should not be prosecuted and 13% were unsure.

The survey concluded by asking respondents: “Can you share with us how you feel about the police raid on the Marion County Record and how by not prosecuting law enforcement for the raids might affect a local newspaper’s ability to independently and freely report on local community news and events in the future?”

The investigation was “poorly investigated,” “lacking patience or scruples,” “a sad abuse of power,” “over the top” and “a huge overreach,” they said.

“It is scary how small town politics can affect basic human rights on such a large scale,” one person wrote. “Simply confirming a tip should not have lead to such an invasion of privacy and then a death. Cody only said he truly believed there was a crime to cover himself in such a delicate instance. The lack of prosecution has just emboldened Marion county officials and government to feel they are above the law and proper procedure.”

Only 14 comments supported police.

They said “police did a great job for once,” “were in legal bounds,” “the reporter was just being nosy” and “they had to investigate.”

“The charges were understood to be accurate based on what was currently known about the issue at the time,” one person wrote. “In order to obtain the evidence, a warrant is required. He followed the law. It becomes a matter of the public trust in both law enforcement agencies as well as the accountability of the press within the limits of their constitutional rights.”

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Story via Kansas Reflector