Coal County Sheriff Jason Smith has quietly taken a major step in his legal saga, pleading no contest to a misdemeanor assault and battery charge during a March 30 hearing in Coal County. He accepted a deferred sentence and unsupervised probation, but that criminal deal leaves a separate civil fight over his job wide open. A judge has set an April 27 removal trial at the Coal County Courthouse in Coalgate, putting Smith’s future in office on the calendar even as the criminal case winds down.
Smith’s plea covers one misdemeanor count. Court records show he received a 90-day deferred sentence and unsupervised probation, while a second misdemeanor tied to the same July incident was tossed as part of the agreement. Those terms appear in court filings and were reported by NonDoc. So the criminal charge is essentially on pause, but a separate grand jury removal petition is still very much alive.
Grand jury petition lays out allegations
The same multi-county grand jury that issued the indictments also filed an accusation seeking to remove Smith from office, alleging oppression in office, habitual drunkenness, and repeated sexual and inappropriate comments toward employees. The formal accusation details incidents on May 19 and July 26, including claims that Smith grabbed and touched staff, invited deputies to his property during work hours, and shoved his wife in front of coworkers. Those allegations are laid out in the Accusation for Removal and in a news release from the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office.
“There can be no tolerance for a sheriff sworn to preserve the peace,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said when the indictments were unsealed, arguing the accusations call into question whether Smith is fit to continue serving. After a recusal, the Attorney General’s office handed the prosecution to the Pittsburg County district attorney, and court filings show the civil removal case is moving on a separate track alongside the criminal matter in Coal County. That split, criminal plea but pending removal, means Smith could still be forced out of office even if the criminal outcomes evolve differently.
Smith’s former undersheriff, Jesse Yother, has already taken his own plea deal and been ordered off the job. Yother pleaded no contest to obstructing an officer, received a six-month unsupervised deferred sentence, and agreed on the record that he will not return to the Coal County Sheriff’s Office, according to KXII. Prosecutors dropped a separate intimidation charge as part of that agreement.
Local officials have been left to sort out the fallout. County commissioners initially voted to suspend Smith and Yother, then backed off after being advised that only a judge can suspend an elected official. A judge later ordered Smith suspended on Dec. 11, and commissioners appointed an interim sheriff. The back-and-forth over authority and payroll has created extra financial and political strain as the cases continue, according to reporting from KSWO.
What happens next
Court calendars list a removal trial for April 27 at the Coal County Courthouse, where a judge will decide whether the grand jury’s accusations justify stripping Smith of his badge. That date appears in public reporting and docket entries, per NonDoc and court minutes available on the OSCN docket. The removal hearing is a civil proceeding, meaning it can lead to ouster or other administrative orders that are separate from whatever happens in the criminal case.
Legal stakes
Misdemeanor convictions come with defined ranges of possible jail time and fines, but the removal case is focused on whether Smith is fit to hold office at all. Under state law, it can result in removal regardless of how the criminal sentencing plays out. The Accusation for Removal cites specific state statutes and lays out the conduct that the grand jury says disqualifies Smith from serving as sheriff. For now, Coal County officials and residents are watching that April hearing to see whether Smith finishes his elected term or is removed early from the job.
