The Marion County Record, a small-town newspaper that fell into the national spotlight when its offices were raided by police in August, has won a press award recognizing excellence in journalism.

The newspaper will be the first organization as a whole to receive the William Allen White National Citation Award, according to a Tuesday press release from the University of Kansas. The award, which has been granted annually since 1950, is usually given to individual journalists.

Eric Meyer, the newspaper’s owner and publisher, will accept the award in April on behalf of the newsroom.

“To be mentioned in the same breath as the great journalists who have received this award is an honor beyond comprehension,” Meyer said in a statement shared by KU. “It’s an important motivator to our staff as it continues to struggle to serve as an example for community journalists facing intimidation.

This honor — especially being the first news organization selected for the award — has given us all a much-needed second wind to continue.”

The Marion County Record is a weekly publication covering a community about 60 miles north of Wichita. It made headlines in August when then-Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody led raids of the newspaper’s main office as well as the home of Meyer, the publisher and editor, and a Marion city councilwoman.

Joan Meyer, mother of Eric Meyer and co-owner of the newspaper, died of a heart attack within hours of the raid. Eric Meyer has said his mother, who was 98 years old, was extremely upset by the actions of local law enforcement.

The search warrants were obtained on the basis that police had probable cause to investigate identity theft of Marion small business owner Kari Newell. In applying for the search warrants, Cody wrote that he was investigating a reporter who looked up Newell’s driver’s license records — which are public — on a state database.

The warrants were also granted at a time when Cody was being investigated by the newspaper about his previous employment with Kansas City police. The Star reported in August that Cody left KCPD while facing possible demotion for allegedly making sexist comments to a female officer.

Amid widespread condemnation of the raids, the search warrants were withdrawn within days of being issued for a lack of sufficient evidence. Cody resigned weeks later.

In a statement Tuesday, Ann Brill, dean of KU’s William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications, said the newspaper had shown “incredible courage and determination in the face of a threat to American democracy and displayed the importance of trustworthy local news.”

“The selection of the Marion County Record as the recipient of this award continues a long tradition of the William Allen White Foundation board of trustees honoring distinguished journalists,” said Brill, who is also president of the William Allen White Foundation.

The Star’s Katie Bernard and Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.