A Nelson County judge has granted a motion to move former Bardstown police officer Nick Houck's perjury trial out of Bardstown, following the same path taken by his brother Brooks Houck's murder trial a year earlier. Houck appeared in court on Thursday, where Judge Charles Simms gave both sides two weeks to either agree on a new location or submit a list of 10 potential counties for him to choose from. The judge will pick the venue himself if prosecutors and the defense cannot settle it.
Houck faces a single felony perjury charge tied to the long-running investigation into the 2015 disappearance of Crystal Rogers, according to WLKY. He was a Bardstown police officer in 2015 when Rogers vanished, and was later fired for interfering in the investigation. Rogers, a 35-year-old mother of five, was reported missing by her mother on July 5, 2015, two days after she was last seen alive at the Houck family farm, and her red Chevrolet Impala was later found abandoned along the Bluegrass Parkway with a flat tire, her keys, purse, and phone still inside, according to WKU Public Radio.
A Family Already Convicted
Nick Houck's brother, Brooks Houck, is now serving a life sentence after being convicted of Crystal Rogers' murder in 2025. Judge Simms sentenced Brooks Houck to life in prison plus five years for murder and tampering with physical evidence, while jurors recommended 25 years for co-defendant Joseph Lawson for conspiracy to commit murder and tampering, matching the maximum recommendations from a Warren County jury following a nine-day trial, per Court TV's reporting. That trial was moved from Nelson County to Warren County Circuit Court in Bowling Green, where jurors deliberated three-and-a-half hours before returning guilty verdicts on all counts.
A third figure in the case, Steve Lawson, Joseph Lawson's father, was sentenced to 17 years in prison a year ago after his conviction for conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence.
How Nick Houck Ended Up Charged
Nick Houck was arrested in June on the felony perjury charge, which stems from allegedly making material false statements under oath in official proceedings between 2015 and 2023. During Brooks Houck's murder trial, prosecutors alleged that Nick Houck and his mother, Rosemary Houck, helped plot the murder and cover-up, though neither had been charged. Rosemary Houck attended her son Brooks's trial, though she was absent from Nick Houck's Thursday proceeding and remains on the prosecutor's witness list.
Sherry Ballard, Crystal Rogers' mother, attended Nick Houck's court appearance in Nelson County. Rogers favored the color pink, a detail that has become part of how her family and supporters remember her throughout the years-long search for answers.
What Comes Next
The destination of Nick Houck's trial remains undetermined for now. His next pre-trial conference is scheduled for August 28, 2026, when attorneys are expected to update the court on venue negotiations. The case remains pending as it moves forward.
