Kari Newell is the Marion, Kansas restaurant owner at the center of the August 2023 raid on the Marion County Record. Her complaint to Police Chief Gideon Cody that a reporter had illegally accessed her driving record became the stated basis for search warrants executed on the newspaper’s office and two homes. The warrants were withdrawn within days for lack of evidence, but Newell’s involvement did not end there: she later told investigators that Cody instructed her to delete their text messages, a disclosure that produced the only criminal charge to come out of the case.
Who Kari Newell Was in Marion
Newell ran two downtown businesses. In January 2023 she took over Chef’s Plate at Parlour 1886, a steak and seafood restaurant inside the Historic Elgin Hotel, and by June she had opened Kari’s Kitchen, a coffee shop and cafe.1Kansas City Star. Woman at the Center of Kansas Newspaper Raid At the time of the events that followed, she was applying for a liquor license for Chef’s Plate.
She had a 2008 DUI conviction. Newell said the costs of settling fines and fees from a DUI diversion had kept her from holding a valid driver’s license for years.2Emporia Gazette. Restaurant Owner Details Discussions With Marion Police Chief Prior to Raid She renewed her license on August 8, 2023, three days before the raid.3Marion County Record. KBI Questioning Sheds New Light on Raid
Tensions with the Record predated the raid. Newell had tried to have publisher Eric Meyer and a reporter escorted out of her coffee shop during a meet-and-greet she hosted for U.S. Representative Jake LaTurner.1Kansas City Star. Woman at the Center of Kansas Newspaper Raid
How Her Driving Record Reached the Newspaper
The chain started with Newell’s estranged husband, not the paper. Ryan Newell, a 38-year-old Army veteran, received a text from an anonymous number containing a screenshot showing Kari Newell’s license was suspended. A temporary divorce order required him to pay the insurance on a vehicle she was using, so he shared the document with his close friends Pam and Roger Maag.4Kansas City Star. Details of Ryan Newell’s Role in Marion Newspaper Raid Controversy
Pam Maag, a former emergency dispatcher, forwarded the information to Record reporter Phyllis Zorn and to City Councilwoman Ruth Herbel. Maag said she acted because she believed law enforcement was ignoring Newell driving on a suspended license.4Kansas City Star. Details of Ryan Newell’s Role in Marion Newspaper Raid Controversy The document had come from a publicly accessible Kansas Department of Revenue website for checking driver’s license status, not from a confidential police database.
The Record decided not to publish. Meyer described the record as a private matter tied to a “dispute between her estranged husband” with no public interest. The paper’s lawyer, Bernie Rhodes, later said the paper had been wary of being used “as a pawn in a contentious divorce.”5CNN. Marion County Record Newspaper Search Warrant
The Complaint to Chief Cody
On August 7, 2023, Cody called Newell and told her, “We believe you’ve been the victim of a crime.” He first suggested her mail had been stolen. When Newell confirmed she still had the physical letter from the Department of Revenue, Cody shifted his theory and alleged that the newspaper’s reporter had illegally accessed the state website to download private case files.6KSHB. Restaurant Owner Details Discussions With Marion Police Chief Prior to Raid on Newspaper
That evening, Newell publicly confronted Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel at a city council meeting, accusing Herbel and the reporter of behaving “negligently and maliciously” by breaching the “driver’s privacy protection act.”6KSHB. Restaurant Owner Details Discussions With Marion Police Chief Prior to Raid on Newspaper She later said she regretted that confrontation.7KAKE. Untold Story: Kari Newell and the Marion County Record Two days later, Cody asked Newell to provide a written statement, which he used as part of the basis for seeking the warrants. Newell was listed as the “victim of alleged crimes” in the warrant a magistrate judge signed.
The Raid and What Followed
On Friday, August 11, 2023, Cody and his officers, joined by sheriff’s deputies, executed warrants at three locations: the Record newsroom, the home Meyer shared with his 98-year-old mother Joan, and the home of Councilwoman Ruth Herbel and her husband Ronald. Police confiscated computers, a server, hard drives, a router, reporters’ personal cellphones, and other materials.8Nebraska Examiner. Marion County Record Publishes in Defiance of Police Raid The warrants were based on allegations of identity theft and unlawful use of a computer, charges that turned on whether a reporter had illegally accessed Newell’s driving record.
Joan Meyer died of cardiac arrest the day after the raid. Her son said she had been unable to eat, drink, or sleep after the search. During the search she had confronted officers, telling them the stress was “going to kill her.”9New York Times. Joan Meyer, Co-Owner of Marion County Record, Dies at 98
By August 16, Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey concluded there was “insufficient evidence” linking the alleged crimes to the places searched and withdrew the warrants. Seized equipment was returned. The paper published its weekly edition on schedule with a front page reading “SEIZED … but not silenced.”8Nebraska Examiner. Marion County Record Publishes in Defiance of Police Raid
What the Raid Cost Newell
The national backlash landed heavily on Newell. She reported hundreds of hostile messages, false online reviews, and prank calls, and she shut down online comments and reservations for both businesses.2Emporia Gazette. Restaurant Owner Details Discussions With Marion Police Chief Prior to Raid She estimated losing roughly 60 percent of her business.7KAKE. Untold Story: Kari Newell and the Marion County Record
Kari’s Kitchen closed permanently in January 2024. Chef’s Plate at Parlour 1886 followed in May 2024.10Marion County Record. Newell Out at Elgin Newell moved from Marion to Newton, Kansas. In March 2025, a rental bungalow where she was living was destroyed by a fire that started on the front porch and was intensified by strong winds; she and three other occupants escaped unharmed, and the cause remained under investigation.11KSN. Woman at the Center of Kansas Newspaper Raid Survives House Fire
Meyer has described Newell as a “pawn” and a “convenient excuse” used by Cody and local leaders to target an adversarial newspaper.2Emporia Gazette. Restaurant Owner Details Discussions With Marion Police Chief Prior to Raid
The Deleted Text Messages
Newell’s role in the case did not stop with the complaint. In a December 2023 interview with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, she revealed that Cody had called her after the raid and told her to delete the text messages they had exchanged. The deleted messages ran from one week before to one week after the raid.12Kansas Reflector. Marion Woman Told Investigators She Deleted Texts With Police Chief to Avoid Rumor of Affair
At an October 15, 2025 preliminary hearing, Newell testified that Cody told her deleting the messages would be in her “best interest” to prevent people from getting the “wrong idea” about whether they were romantically involved. She said she complied because she feared her ex-husband would accuse her of having an affair with Cody.13Kansas Reflector. Judge Orders Ex-Police Chief Who Led Raid on Kansas Newspaper to Stand Trial for Deleted Texts About six weeks after the raid she texted Cody expressing worry about having deleted the messages, and he told her she was being “paranoid.”14Iola Register. Former Police Chief Likely Committed Felony
Newell deleted her copies, but Cody had not erased the messages from his own phone. He had given the phone to Jennifer Hill, the attorney defending the city and county in federal lawsuits, and prosecutors recovered 31 pages of text messages from her. One recovered message showed Cody saying he was working with a publisher to write a book about the experience.13Kansas Reflector. Judge Orders Ex-Police Chief Who Led Raid on Kansas Newspaper to Stand Trial for Deleted Texts Newell testified she had not communicated with Cody since leaving Marion two years earlier.
Where the Cases Stand
Special prosecutors Marc Bennett, the Sedgwick County District Attorney, and Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson were appointed by the Kansas Attorney General to investigate. Their 124-page report, released in August 2024, concluded that the newspaper’s staff committed no crimes and that officers “jumped the gun” by executing the warrants without consulting computer crime specialists at the KBI. The prosecutors found “insufficient evidence” that Cody committed a crime in obtaining the warrants, noting that “it is not a crime under Kansas law for a law enforcement officer to conduct a poor investigation and reach erroneous conclusions.” They charged him instead with one felony count of interfering with the judicial process for inducing Newell to delete the texts.15Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Marion County Raid Investigation
At the October 2025 preliminary hearing, District Judge Ryan Rosauer rejected the defense’s argument that it was a “legal impossibility” to charge Cody because the messages were ultimately recovered. The judge found probable cause and ordered him to stand trial. Cody pleaded not guilty. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 23 months.16KWCH. Former Marion PD Chief Headed to Trial in Case Surrounding Newspaper Raid Trial was initially set for February 2026, but a judge granted a continuance after Cody’s attorneys argued that a documentary about the raid, Seized, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026, could prejudice the limited Marion County jury pool. As of early 2026, trial was rescheduled for sometime in the summer.17KWCH. Former Marion County Police Chief’s Trial Postponed Until Summer
On the civil side, five federal lawsuits filed by the newspaper’s staff and Councilwoman Herbel were consolidated into a single case against Marion, Marion County, and individual officials. In November 2025, Marion County reached settlement agreements totaling $3 million with four plaintiffs: $1.5 million to Eric Meyer, $650,000 to Ruth Herbel, $600,000 to reporter Phyllis Zorn, and $250,000 to reporter Deb Gruver. Gruver had previously settled a separate claim against Cody personally for $235,000 in 2024.18Kansas Reflector. Marion County Agrees to Pay Out $3M for Newspaper Raid, Express Regret
As part of two settlements, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement of regret: “The Sheriff’s Office wishes to express its sincere regrets to Eric and Joan Meyer and Ruth and Ronald Herbel for its participation in the drafting and execution of the Marion Police Department’s search warrants on their homes and the Marion County Record. This likely would not have happened if established law had been reviewed and applied prior to the execution of the warrants.”19KCUR. Marion County Newspaper Raid Settlement The county defendants also consented to a court-entered judgment acknowledging they violated the Herbels’ Fourth Amendment rights by helping draft and execute a “bogus warrant” in retaliation for Ruth Herbel exercising her First Amendment rights.20Institute for Justice. Marion County Settles Lawsuit Over Unconstitutional Raid
Claims against the city of Marion, its police department, former Mayor David Mayfield, and Cody remain active. A federal suit filed by the Record alleges Mayfield “ordered the raid” and that he and Cody planned it based on a false claim of identity theft.21Red Rock News. Three Federal Lawsuits Filed Over Police Raid of Small Town Newspaper in Kansas Meyer has said the plaintiffs are “100% convinced we are going to go to trial with the city.”18Kansas Reflector. Marion County Agrees to Pay Out $3M for Newspaper Raid, Express Regret Newell herself is not a defendant in any of the cases.