A young volunteer firefighter named Cody Royer is facing felony aggravated assault charges after he said he was attempting to clean up after a tornado last year.
According to KAKE-TV, Royer said he traveled to Plevna, in rural Reno County last May to help clean up damage after a tornado tore through the town.
Royer told the Sentinel that he came down over the Memorial Day weekend, and his father had been told they could use an excavator owned by Reno County, which was going to be sitting idle over the long weekend.
“My dad talked to an individual with a Reno County shirt on,” Royer said. “I don’t know if it was fire or, you know, Reno County Highway Department, or whatever their shirts say. And so I was under the impression that we had permission to use it based on the conversation I had with my father.”
Shortly after, county staff showed up with law enforcement and ordered him to stop using it.
Royer was about three months later charged with “Criminal Deprivation of Property” a class “A” misdemeanor which can carry up to a year in the county jail.
Royer, whose only other brush with the law is a speeding ticket in 2022, was understandably reluctant to plead guilty on something that could see him in jail for a year. He said he was told if he didn’t, they would up the charges to Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon because one of the county workers — Kathryn S. Gard — claimed she was afraid he would run her over.
In mid March, Assistant District Attorney Bach T. Hang did exactly that.
Royer admits they probably should have checked to make sure they had permission to use the machine before they did, but the investigating officer at the time didn’t feel there was much cause for concern.
“We were basically under the impression that if we called, apologized, explained the situation, there would be no charges,” Royer said.
Moreover, Royer said Reno County appears to have “lost” the body-cam footage from the responding deputies.
“Apparently, Reno County was having problems with servers, or IT problems, I’m not exactly sure, but somehow that one conveniently was one of them that was deleted or, you know, not filed correctly or saved,” he said.
According to KNST-TV, Royer’s attorney said there was never any threat to anyone.
“The excavator was operated in a safe and professional manner at all times by Mr. Royer,” said Nicholas Oswald, Royer’s attorney. “Simply, Mr. Royer volunteered to help community members in need of emergency assistance following the natural disaster.”
Judge refuses to release justification for charges against Royer
In Kansas, the justification for filing a particular charge, known as an Affidavit of Probable Cause, is sealed unless a motion to unseal it is filed. The presumption is supposed to be that — barring extenuating circumstances — the probable cause affidavit, or “PC,” is supposed to be released. Both the prosecution and the defense may object, and the judge will then decide.
The Sentinel filed such a request with the Reno County District Court to understand the underlying reason for the felony charges against Royer.
Reno County District Court Judge Jeff Newsum denied that request after Hang objected.
However, no one is allowed to see why Hang objected, as his motion to file a response requested that it be under seal.
Newsum found that “If the court lifted the seal, the State asserts these summarized arguments: victim information could not be adequately redacted, there are ongoing investigations that would be compromised, and the defendant’s and State’s rights to a fair trial could be compromised,” and “The Court finds that it is necessary for the affidavit to remain sealed because of the victim information contained within that could not be adequately redacted, there are ongoing investigations that would be compromised, and the defendant’s and State’s rights to a fair trial could be compromised.”
However, what “victim information” would be compromised is unclear, as the alleged victim’s name is listed in the complaint. It is equally unclear which investigations can be ongoing, as Royer admits he used the excavator and says he moved it where he was told to.
A preliminary hearing — where the judge will determine if there is sufficient probable cause that a crime has been committed — is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 3, 2026.
Royer has a GoFundMe set up to help defray legal costs.
Lawrence judge seals multiple affidavits
Sealing PCs is fairly common in Kansas, although other states — such as Oklahoma — provide them to the media as a matter of course.
According to the Lawrence Journal-World, a Douglas County judge has been sealing PCs almost as a matter of routine.
“Judge Stacey Donovan … has completely sealed the arrest affidavits in two criminal cases after having also … completely sealed the affidavit for a man accused of killing a local actor and a man accused of assaulting a woman with a baseball bat,” the World wrote.
Indeed, according to the World, Donovan’s orders sometimes make reference to objections by the state or defense, but also occasionally seals them without comment, as she did in the case of a man accused of murder.
“Judges have the option of redacting sensitive details in an affidavit or hiding the document entirely from the public,” the World wrote. “Donovan chose the latter and did not, as some judges do and as Donovan herself has sometimes done, indicate to the public why she did so. The state law dealing with affidavits outlines numerous reasons for a judge to redact or seal an affidavit, including, among others, safety, privacy and interference with an investigation, but Donovan did not list any.”
