Johnson County Sheriff Adam King voluntarily placed himself on administrative leave following his indictment on Wednesday, according to his office.

According to the indictment dated July 21, 2025, after learning a female employee filed a human resource complaint against him for sexual harassment, King tried to get her home address "knowing the fact would cause a reasonable person to feel harassed, terrified, intimidated, alarmed or tormented."

King, 57, also allegedly threatened Chief Deputy James Saulter, who reported the allegations, a violation of the whistleblower act, the indictment states. An attorney for Saulter said he followed proper protocol in the investigation and that once King became aware of it, he suspended Sualter and stripped him of his gun, badge and vehicle.

King was charged with abuse of office: official oppression - sexual harassment and two counts of corrupt influence: retaliation against a witness.

JCSO said King chose to go on administrative leave "in the interest of transparency and to allow the legal process to proceed without distraction."

Capital Ben Arriola was appointed as acting sheriff, effective immediately, JCSO said. 

Johnson County judge, community speak out on the charges against Sheriff Adam King

The Johnson County Judge and the community are speaking out on the charges.

Traffic bustled through downtown Cleburne on Thursday, and the arrest of King also buzzed through the streets. Tabitha Bushong believes the allegations bring embarrassment and a bad look to the county.

"The allegations were insane, so I hope he doesn't get away with it," Bushong said.

Bushong, who has lived in Cleburne all her life, said she's read the indictment against the sheriff.

"It's terrifying because what can you do? It's his word against yours, and then so many women go through his offices, not just the employees but all the probationers," Bushong said. "You have a lot of women in this area, so it's like, what has he done? What hasn't he done?"

Johnson County Judge Christopher Boedeker said the county received a written complaint on June 30 of sexual harassment within the sheriff's office.

"Obviously, this is a challenging situation," Boedeker said. "In order to ensure there was an independent investigation, we immediately referred that to the Texas Rangers. They assigned a ranger from another county to come here and investigate the allegations. I understand this is a black eye for the county."

Voters elected Sheriff King in 2016. Boedeker said Johnson County can't fire the sheriff, even if he's found guilty of the charges. A voter would have to file a lawsuit.

"Everybody's entitled to a presumption of innocence, but nobody's above the law. We all live and play by the same rules, and we're all held accountable to the same standards," Boedeker said. "Beyond this situation, I think it's important to point out that at the sheriff's office, there's 125 sworn officers. There's a lot of good people out there doing good jobs. I know this is a hard time for them."

The next step is an arraignment, which is expected to happen in 30 to 45 days.