Officials in Marion County, Kansas, have agreed to pay more than $3 million and issue a formal apology over a 2023 police raid on a small-town newspaper that ignited national backlash and raised alarms about government overreach and press freedom.

The Marion County Record was raided after it received information about a local restaurant owner’s driving record — a story the paper ultimately chose not to publish.

Days later, police obtained search warrants accusing the newsroom of identity theft and computer crimes, seizing computers, phones, and reporting materials from both the paper’s office and the home of its publisher, Eric Meyer.

Meyer’s 98-year-old mother and co-owner, Joan Meyer, collapsed and died the day after the raid — a loss her son attributed to the stress of the search.

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