The indictment, on a charge of aggravated perjury, was illegally obtained, the sheriff’s lawyers claimed.
A Johnson County district judge on Thursday threw out one of the indictments against the county’s embattled sheriff, according to court documents.
Sheriff Adam King had been indicted on the charge of aggravated perjury on Oct. 1, hours before the same judge granted King’s request to return to work while his case is pending.
The indictment for the charge was “illegally obtained,” according to the court documents.
King, who was in August charged with abuse of office and witness retaliation, was accused of lying under oath while testifying before a grand jury in those cases, according to the original indictment.
The sheriff perjured himself when he told the grand jury he did not change the schedule of a female employee after she reported that King sexually harassed her.
King’s attorneys could not specify why the indictment was illegal, they said in a statement Thursday.
“At this time, it can’t be said whether the indictment was a mistake, negligence, or simply not knowing state law,” the statement reads.
Lillie Davidson is a breaking news reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She graduated from TCU in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, is fluent in Spanish, and can complete a crossword in five minutes.
A high-ranking Johnson County official is questioning whether the indictments against Sheriff Adam King which resulted in the suspension of his peace officer license disqualify him from his position.
WFAA
A high-ranking Johnson County official is questioning whether the suspension of Sheriff Adam King’s peace officer license disqualifies him from continuing in his role as sheriff.
Timothy Good, the district attorney for Johnson and Somervell counties, has requested an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton regarding the issue.
King, who is in his third term, is accused of making repeated and unwelcome sexually charged remarks toward female employees, showing favoritism to women who spent time alone with him, and threatening his chief deputy to stay quiet about it, according to court documents.
A grand jury indicted the 57-year-old sheriff on two felony counts of retaliation against a witness and one misdemeanor count of abuse of office related to sexual harassment in August. On Oct. 1, he was indicted on one count of aggravated perjury.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement suspended King’s peace officer license on Sept. 9, according to online records. King placed himself on administrative leave in August, but was given permission to resume his law enforcement duties on a restricted basis following an Oct. 2 hearing.
On Oct. 9, Good asked Paxton to issue an opinion on whether the suspension of King’s license automatically prohibits him from continuing as sheriff. As a secondary issue, Good asked how the loss of King’s license affects his deputies, who are appointed by the sheriff and derive their authority from him.
In a supplemental brief Good sent to Paxton on Oct. 20, the district attorney lays out his argument against King’s eligibility to serve.
“The Texas legislature sought to specifically disqualify any sheriff from continuing to serve in that position should he be unable to maintain an active permanent peace officer license or qualify by previous service as a federal agent or in the military,” the brief states. “Thus, Johnson County Sheriff Adam King cannot serve as Sheriff as long as his license is suspended.”
According to Good, King has been directing the Sheriff’s Office through his deputies who have active licenses. Under Texas law, deputies derive their authority from the acting sheriff. If King were disqualified, Good questioned how that would affect the role of his deputies.
“The District Attorney’s Office wants to ensure that the power and authority that deputies in the sheriff’s office are acting under is not questioned in the commission of their work as it relates to protecting the public and investigating criminal acts, many of which are filed with the District Attorney’s Office,” Good said in the brief.
King and his attorney, Bill Mason, did not respond to the Star-Telegram’s request for comment.
King has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, according to Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV reporting. Mason said in a previous statement to WFAA that King “would not, and did not, do anything wrong, inappropriate, or illegal.”
The Johnson County sheriff accused of abuse of office and perjury can return to work while his case is pending, though he is prohibited from any contact with his employees who are witnesses in his criminal case.
District Court Judge John Weeks granted Sheriff Adam King’s request to resume his law enforcement duties during a hearing Thursday. King pleaded not guilty to the four charges against him, according to Star-Telegram partner WFAA.
A grand jury indicted King in August on two felony counts of retaliation against a witness and one misdemeanor count of abuse of office related to sexual harassment. The third-term sheriff is accused of repeatedly harassing his female subordinates and threatening his chief deputy to keep it quiet.
According to the allegations, King instructed a female employee to remove her sweater, which was covering a V-neck blouse. He told the employee that she would need to “disrobe” before he would sign any documents, which was a task required for her job. The sheriff also told her, “If you keep losing weight, you’re going to make me do some ungodly things to you.”
On another occasion, when the same employee told King she planned to arrive at work at 6 a.m. the following day, King responded, “that’s early enough that you don’t have to wear any clothes,” according to the indictment.
When the woman wore white slacks to work, the sheriff commented, “Back in my younger days, you wouldn’t want to know what I did to women wearing white pants.”
During a weekly all-female “teatime” hosted by the sheriff, he said, “Don’t tell people/your husbands sheriff puts his cream in your tea.”
New charge against Johnson County sheriff
A fourth charge, aggravated perjury, was handed up from a grand jury on Wednesday. King perjured himself when he testified that he had not changed his accuser’s work schedule after learning she had reported the harassment, according to the latest indictment.
During testimony, King was asked whether the woman’s schedule had been changed to five eight-hour shifts a week instead of four 10-hour shifts. King said that Capt. Ben Arriola or Chief Deputy James Saulter were responsible for the change.
Arriola was appointed acting sheriff after King placed himself on administrative leave in August.
Arriola and Saulter’s testimonies to the grand jury, along with the testimonies of Johnson County Judge Christopher Boedecker and Chief Deputy Mark Reinhardt, “materially contradicted” King’s assertions, according to the indictment.
Weeks modified the conditions of King’s bond to allow him to return to work, according to WFAA. Under the new orders, King is allowed to return to the office three days a week between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. He cannot contact any of the seven named witnesses in the case.
If King must communicate with any of the seven witnesses about work matters, he must go through Capt. Arriola, according to WFAA.
King also cannot access GPS or tracking tools, or conduct background checks on county employees, according to WFAA.
Lillie Davidson is a breaking news reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She graduated from TCU in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, is fluent in Spanish, and can complete a crossword in five minutes.
The embattled Johnson County sheriff has been indicted again, this time on a charge of aggravated perjury, court documents show.
Sheriff Adam King, who was in August charged with abuse of office and witness retaliation, is accused of lying under oath while testifying before the grand jury in those cases, according to the indictment.
A female employee, training coordinator Anna Goodloe, told WFAA-TV last month that King began sexually harassing her in February 2024 when she returned to work after a month in the intensive care unit.
Goodloe’s health issues caused her to lose 130 pounds, she said.
At that point, King began calling her “Dr. Skinny” and making other unwelcome remarks, which continued until July of this year, Goodloe said.
There were days, Goodloe said, that the effects of the harassment were so terrible that she would pull over on the highway to vomit as she drove into work. Eventually, it was more painful to carry on like that than it was to “pull the trigger” and report the harassment, she said.
King perjured himself when he told the grand jury that he did not change Goodloe’s work schedule after learning she had reported the harassment, according to the indictment.
When asked whether Goodloe’s schedule had been changed to five eight-hour shifts a week instead of four 10-hour shifts, King said that Capt. Ben Arriola or Chief Deputy James Saulter were responsible for the change.
Arriola was appointed acting sheriff after King placed himself on administrative leave in August.
King is accused of threatening Saulter to stay quiet about Goodloe’s allegations, according to the previous indictments.
Arriola’s and Saulter’s testimonies to the grand jury, along with the testimonies of Johnson County Judge Christopher Boedecker and Chief Deputy Mark Reinhardt, “materially contradicted” King’s assertions, according to the indictment.
King had, in fact, “openly discussed” his plans to change Goodloe’s schedule with the four men, who advised him against doing so, according to the indictment.
Aggravated perjury is a third-degree felony, punishable by a prison sentence of two to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 7:57 PM.
Lillie Davidson is a breaking news reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She graduated from TCU in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, is fluent in Spanish, and can complete a crossword in five minutes.
