A Johnson County judge declared a mistrial in the trial of Sheriff Adam King Tuesday night after jurors could not agree on a verdict.
Judge John Weeks read a note from the jury that said one juror was in disagreement with the majority and had made up his mind since deliberations started. He didn't say whether the majority had decided King was guilty or innocent.
King faced an abuse of office charge for allegedly retaliating against a former chief deputy sheriff who reported King for sexually harassing another employee.
He left the courthouse in Cleburne holding his wife's hand.
"Happy to be with my family," King told reporters. "That's what's important."
He refused to comment further.
"We always felt confident that there would not be a conviction," William Mason, King's lead attorney, told reporters. "It was the outcome we hoped for certainly."
The mistrial means the entire trial will "reset" with a new jury unless prosecutors drop the abuse of office charge. Mason said there's no set time for the new trial yet.
"The case is still pending." Mason said. "It's as if we hadn't spend the last 12 days here, so we start over."
King faces between two to 10 years of prison, or probation, and fines up to $10,000 if found guilty.
The sheriff was indicted by a grand jury last year on sexual harassment, perjury and retaliation charges.
This trial only focused on whether or not King retaliated against former Johnson County Deputy Chief James Saulter for reporting King’s alleged sexual harassment.
Each charge will be tried separately. This jury was not tasked with deciding whether or not King had sexually harassed Anna Goodloe, a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office training coordinator, and other female employees.
Saulter was put on administrative leave shortly before the indictment in August and fired in May. Jurors for two weeks heard testimony from Saulter, reviewed messages and watched body camera footage that prosecutors argued proved King illegally punished Saulter.
Johnson’s attorneys rested their case Monday without calling any witnesses, but they did argue that Saulter’s punishment was unrelated to him reporting King.
Jurors deliberated late into the night before returning Tuesday to make a decision.
“If you keep losing weight, you’re gonna make me do some ungodly things to you,” King told Goodloe, according to an August grand jury indictment.
On another occasion, King told Goodloe she would need to undress before he would sign any documents for her job, according to prosecutors.
Court documents also allege he created an environment of “unwanted sexual attention” among female employees by persistent staring and sexual comments.
In one instance, King's accused of telling a female employee entering his office “stop ... back up, I need to look at your feet," before staring at the employee's feet.
King then allegedly retaliated against Goodloe after learning she had filed a human resources complaint and spoke to Texas Rangers. He threatened to put her in jail and made it known he was looking for her home address in an attempt to scare her, prosecutors say.
King was lastly indicted for aggravated perjury. Prosecutors say King lied to the grand jury in August 2025 when he told them he didn't change Goodloe's work schedule after she reported the sexual harassment.
That first charge was dropped because the indictment was secured by the same jury King allegedly lied to, which isn’t allowed under Texas law. A separate grand jury in March indicted King for aggravated perjury again.
Saulter and Goodloe filed a civil lawsuit on June 18 against King, seeking $50 million in total.
King was initially on paid administrative leave after his first indictments but was allowed to return to work with restrictions.
Dylan Duke is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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