[helsinkiandrew]

> "It is true that in most cases, [the Privacy Protection Act] requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search," Cody said.

Presumably the restaurant owner accusing the newspaper editor of identity theft gives good cover for the police chief to get a warrant and search for anything else (ie information about investigations into himself). That does give a veneer of legality to the raid.

[flutas]

> That does give a veneer of legality to the raid.

I would have agreed, if it hadn't been for the County Attorney (who according to their website is "the chief law enforcement officer in Marion County."[0]) putting his foot in his mouth, and the paper exposing the relationship between him and the restaurant owner. It makes it pretty clear what actually is going on here.

> A Record reporter later requested a copy of the probable cause affidavit necessary for issuance of the search warrant.

> District court, where such items are supposed to be filed, issued a signed statement saying no affidavit was on file.

> County attorney Joel Ensey, whose brother owns the hotel where Newell operates her restaurant, was asked for it but said he would not release it because it was “not a public document.”

---

[0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20230215034526/https://www.mario...

[bilbo0s]

Slightly off topic, but how do you get to be a county attorney, and still be this oblivious to propriety? Did he believe nothing would come of this and it would all just go away?

I honestly can't see how anyone with a law degree would have even touched this situation under the same circumstances. Journalists? Preexisting business relationships that are documented and freely available to the public.

Jeez, at least hide stuff in holding companies or trusts or something. What were these guys doing?

[flutas]

To be fair he probably expected it to not be heard of at all.

Looking it up, the county only has a population of ~11.8k[0], and the town only has 1.9k residents[1]. Which is on the verge of "doesn't exist" usually for news.

Also editing the original comment, because apparently he's also their chief of police.[2]

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_County,_Kansas

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion,_Kansas

[2]: https://web.archive.org/web/20230215034526/https://www.mario...

> The County Attorney is the chief law enforcement officer in Marion County.

[afavour]

> Did he believe nothing would come of this and it would all just go away?

My entirely unevidenced belief is that this happens _all the time_ and recent events are only notable because they didn't just go away. With local news in freefall if anything I imagine this is happening more and more.

[giraffe_lady]

> Did he believe nothing would come of this and it would all just go away?

Most likely yes, and he isn't wrong to believe that. This is genuinely how small towns & rural areas function even still. The sheriff, judge, police chief, school principal, county commissioner, and the most significant business owners and landlords will all be part of the same segregation-era country club or masonic lodge or some other thing and they'll make decisions and ask favors together over there.

Usually the local newspaper owner would also be part of this clique, and I guess the county attorney misjudged the ramifications of that. But this sort of local corruption is rampant and the people doing it can count on the fact that it almost never gets picked up as a national news item.

[tehwebguy]

> Slightly off topic, but how do you get to be a county attorney, and still be this oblivious to propriety?

I mean who is going to do anything about it? They are in charge of who gets indicted and who doesn’t.