The attorney hired by the city of Marion following the raids on a Kansas newsroom has blocked access to records that should be publicly available under state law.

The KSHB 41 News I-Team requested former police chief Gideon Cody’s text messages, among other public officials in Marion.

In an email on Oct. 31, Jennifer Hill, an attorney hired by the city following the raids denied the request by writing: “The City has no custody over personal cell phones and KORA provides no enforcement mechanism to obtain text messages from personal cell phones. As such, obtaining text messages from the personal property of the listed individuals would place an unreasonable burden on the City and, to the extent any such records even exist, the City is under no obligation to produce such records.”