A Month Later ... Important Questions Still Unanswered
The police searched the Marion County Record on Aug. 11, seizing items needed to produce the weekly paper under a warrant the county attorney said was improper just a few days later.
More than a month later, two important things have not been revealed publicly:
1) Did County Attorney Joel Ensey or someone in his office review the affidavit before the warrant was approved?
2) Is it appropriate for Joel Ensey to receive the results of the KBI investigation? On Aug. 14, it was announced that the KBI was taking over the investigation into the allegation of identity theft that started all of this, and that the results would be forwarded to Joel Ensey's office. However, Ensey's sister-in-law owns the building where Kari Newell operates her restaurant.
(Kari Newell is the person who made the allegation of identity theft in the first place. The allegation stems from someone claiming to be her to look up her driving record - information that other state officials have said is public record and accessible to anyone.)
Anyway, given Joel Ensey's familial relationship to people at the heart of this contentious issue, and his office's presumed role in the now discredited search warrant, another prosecutorial agency should be reviewing the results of the KBI's investigation to consider if any crimes were committed. (Here's an article that explores all this: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article278388049.html
If you remain concerned that police were able to raid this newspaper office, please consider sharing this petition and encouraging others to sign it. The petition is shared with Gov. Laura Kelly, but you also can share your concerns with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation here: https://www.kansas.gov/kbi/about/contactus.shtml
Here are some recent updates to this story:
What police found on the computers seized in the Marion County Record raid: https://www.kctv5.com/2023/09/05/what-police-found-computers-seized-marion-county-record-raid/
Reporter for raided Kansas newspaper files federal lawsuit against Marion police chief: https://www.kansascity.com/article278786679.html#storylink=cpy
OPINION: Transparency demands that Marion County attorney explain his role in ‘chilling’ newspaper raid: https://kansasreflector.com/2023/09/07/transparency-demands-that-marion-county-attorney-explain-his-role-in-chilling-newspaper-raid/
Kansas commission seeks magistrate’s perspective on Marion search warrant complaint: https://kansasreflector.com/2023/09/06/kansas-commission-seeks-magistrates-perspective-on-marion-search-warrant-complaint/