Kansas journalist hit with search warrant after photographing police range

Independent journalist Jarom Smith is under investigation for trespassing after photographing an old police shooting range on the outskirts of Emporia, Kansas — a minor incident that escalated when authorities sought search warrants for his news outlet’s Facebook account on Nov. 14, 2025.

Smith, who has run the digital-only Lyon County Observer on a part-time basis since April, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he walked around an open gate at the joint city-county range in October to take two photos while covering local officials’ plan for a new law enforcement shooting range and 911 communications center.

The project’s $2 million cost has been a frequent focus of his reporting, which mixes straight news with occasional viewpoint.

“I was just trying to bring to light my opinion that they didn’t need to spend a couple million dollars on something that we already have,” he said.

A few weeks after posting the pictures to the social network, he was contacted by an Emporia police investigator about a trespass complaint.

“I answered everything truthfully. I told them, ‘Yeah, I went on the property, but I didn’t see a “no trespassing” sign,’” he said. “I admitted everything. I even emailed the city and the county attorney and sent them the photos I took.”

But on Nov. 16, Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook, notified him that a judge had approved a warrant directing it to provide all records from the Observer’s account over a three-day period.

“They didn’t need it. I already admitted to what I did,” he said. “It was more like a witch hunt.”

The warrant, which Smith posted on Facebook, did not specify the suspected offense but would have required Meta to turn over stored messages, posts, photos, videos and location data.

“I can only assume this includes the protected conversations that I have had with hundreds of Lyon County citizens who wish for their voices to be heard,” he wrote in the Facebook post.

Smith, who covers local government for several thousand readers, said the detective assigned to his case has criticized his work in comments on the Observer’s page. He said he sees himself as a watchdog in the community — a role that has at times been unpopular with government officials — and that the investigation feels retaliatory.

“I’m very patriotic. I’m not trying to break the system,” he said. “What I’m trying to do is bring back local journalism in my community and hopefully other communities, because it is 100 percent necessary. It’s a vital thing for our nation.”

Smith retained a First Amendment attorney, who contacted authorities on his behalf. They then withdrew their warrant, but then got a second that narrowly tailored the search parameters, Smith said.

Lyon County Attorney Amy Aranda told the Kansas Reflector in a Nov. 30 report that the original warrant had been withdrawn, no records were produced and a second would not be served.

But Smith still does not know where the trespassing investigation stands.

“It’s kind of frustrating because I spent thousands of dollars on an attorney to basically save them the legal exposure from a federal lawsuit,” he said of local authorities. “And now I might still be facing criminal charges. Hopefully, it all just goes away.”