TOPEKA — The magistrate who authorized last year’s police raid on the Marion County Record escaped discipline from a state panel by making claims that contradict statements in federal lawsuits about how the search warrants arrived in front of her and whether the police chief swore they were true before she signed them.

Magistrate Judge Laura Viar’s secret explanation, obtained by Kansas Reflector, adds a new layer of confusion and mystery to how law enforcement were able to carry out the search and seizure of journalists’ computers and cellphones without regard for state and federal laws that prohibit such police action. It also raises concerns about the low standards set for judges by the Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody prepared search warrant applications with the assistance of a sheriff’s deputy that accused newspaper reporter Phyllis Zorn of committing identity theft by looking up a driving record in a Kansas Department of Revenue public database. Publisher and editor Eric Meyer and Councilwoman Ruth Herbel were targeted for having a copy of the record.

In court documents, Cody said he emailed the search warrant applications to County Attorney Joel Ensey, whose office delivered them to the judge. Ensey, in an email he sent to himself a day after the Aug. 11, 2023, raid, said he printed off the applications without reading them and had an office manager deliver them to the judge. That email has been attached to court filings.

A Topeka woman in April filed a complaint against Viar with the Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct after reading Meyer’s lawsuit against Cody and others. The lawsuit questions whether the search warrants were legal if Cody never appeared before the judge.

In Viar’s response to the disciplinary panel, she wrote that District Judge Susan Robson approached her with an unknown law enforcement officer on the morning of the raid. According to Viar, Robson introduced the officer as Cody and said she couldn’t sign the warrants “because of her history with the city,” which isn’t explained. Cody led the judges to believe that Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents, who had assisted Cody in the investigation, were prepared to join the raid, even though they weren’t, Viar wrote.

“I can say with 100% certainty that I did not approve the search warrants and return them to Chief Cody until I had verified under oath his signature and the truthfulness of the statements in the supporting affidavits,” Viar wrote.

The disciplinary panel dismissed the complaint against Viar after receiving her response, according to a letter obtained by Kansas Reflector. It isn’t clear whether the panel, which operates in secrecy by Kansas Supreme Court rule, independently investigated the accuracy of Viar’s account.

The panel members who dismissed the complaint against Viar were Grant County District Judge Bradley Ambrosier; Kansas City, Kansas, attorney Tonda Jones Hill; Rosemary Kolich, of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth; Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Thomas Malone; and Johnson County Judge Thomas Kelly Ryan.

Viar didn’t respond to an email inquiry asking her to reconcile her account with the ones provided by Cody and Ensey.

The commission directed questions to Lisa Taylor, spokeswoman for the Office of Judicial Administration, who said, “I have no information related to this matter.”

Jared McClain, an attorney with the Virginia-based Institute for Justice who represents Herbel in her federal lawsuit over the raid, said he was surprised that Viar’s account differs “so drastically” from the police chief and county attorney.

“Those are completely different versions of the truth,” McClain said. “And I don’t see what Cody or Ensey could have to gain by telling their version of the story, because their version of the story is worse for them. But Viar’s is better for everyone. So if that were the truth, why did the other guys spend a year saying something different?”

McClain also said it was “obvious” there was no probable cause for the searches, because the police theory of a crime dealt with accessing a public record on a public website.

The same disciplinary panel previously dismissed a complaint against Viar that was based on the lack of evidence to support a crime, the federal and state laws that should have prevented the judge from signing the documents, and the violation of constitutional freedoms.

Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, said she was disappointed the disciplinary panel had let Viar off the hook.

“It’s another level of accountability that will never happen,” Bradbury said.

Zorn, the reporter whose work became a pretext for the raid, said she was upset that police “came in with such a lousy excuse for a warrant.”

“This thing was political. And I wasn’t the target. I was actually the pawn,” Zorn said. “They seized upon something and used that as their excuse. And I will say this: I was raised by a small town cop who spent 18 and three-quarters years with highway patrol. He has been dead for four years. There’s no doubt in my mind he is still spinning in his grave.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A boil water advisory will likely remain in effect through Monday, Aug. 5 for water customers in North Kansas City.

Late Thursday night, a key water main broke in the city, causing a disruption in water pressure, which prompted the boil water advisory.

Work to repair the broken water main closed some streets in the city.

On Saturday morning, a city spokesperson said repairs to the water main have been completed, but additional testing is still required to make sure the water system is back to normal.

“The city is working with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to test and monitor the city’s water quality as water pressure and capacity in the system returns and customer usage is restored to normal levels,” the spokesperson said Saturday in a press release.

More information about the boil water advisory is available on the city’s website.

Residents can receive bottled water from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3 at the parking lot at North Kansas City High School. Cases of water will be determined by the number of people in the household and are only available while supplies last.

Anyone who cannot get to the bottled water pickup can still receive bottled water by calling the Clay County Public Health Center at 816-595-4200.

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The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 9-2 on Friday night at Comerica Park. The win moved Kansas City to 62-49 on the year as they now hold the No. 2 spot in the American League wild card picture. They are seeking their first playoff appearance since the 2015 season, which is also when they last won the World Series.

In the win, longtime catcher Salvador Perez went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, a homer and two RBI. Though he was playing first base in this particular game, he joined several Hall of Fame catchers in elite baseball history with the performance.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

most seasons with 20+ HR, catchers (min 50% games at C each szn):

Mike Piazza: 11
Johnny Bench: 11
Brian McCann: 10
Yogi Berra: 10
Gary Carter: 9
Salvador Perez: 8
Jorge Posada: 8
Carlton Fisk: 8

Piazza, Bench, Carter, Berra and Fisk are all in the Hall of Fame, so that’s a great list for Perez to be a part of. And given his resume, he may one day join them in Cooperstown.

The 34-year-old is one of the most impactful catchers of the last decade, hitting 266 career home runs to this point. He’s also a nine-time All-Star, a five-time Gold Glover, a four-time Silver Slugger, a World Series champion and a World Series MVP.

He’s hitting .282 this year with the 20 homers and 75 RBI. He pairs with Bobby Witt Jr. and pitcher Seth Lugo as major reasons for the Kansas City turnaround this year.

The Royals and Tigers will play again on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. ET.

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