Clay County Sheriff to serve sentence in Hardeman County

Clay County Sheriff Jeffrey Lyde will have to serve 30 days in Hardeman County Jail, pay two $750 fines, permanently surrendered his law enforcement license, and gave up his right to appeal as part of an agreement for his punishment for two misdemeanor crimes.
The agreement was reached Tuesday in a Montague County courtroom.
Lyde will serve his concurrent 30-day sentences beginning at noon on Nov. 27 in Quanah at the Hardeman County Jail.
Misdemeanor charges against him related to allegations of sexual harassment in the Sheriff’s Office are to be dismissed as part of the agreement, as well as two other charges of official oppression and tampering.
Staley Heatly, district attorney for the 46th district, prosecuted the cases as an attorney pro tem.
“He will never be able to be a peace officer again. That was an important part of the negotiations in this case,” Heatly said.
Lyde had been found guilty of official oppression and tampering with a government document in a jury trial in the 97th district court on Sept. 15.