James Oakley Reprimanded Removed

Burnet County Judge James Oakley tampered with a fellow judge's courtroom security — after Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Lisa Whitehead asked to add security measures to her own courtroom, Oakley refused, then went further: he had the lock removed from her courtroom door and installed a keypad that kept the door permanently unlocked, according to findings from the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The Commission also found Oakley made sexual comments about Whitehead and her husband and touched her inappropriately; the sexual harassment findings extended to at least two other women as well. The Commission publicly reprimanded Oakley on December 11, 2024 for unprofessional conduct, sexual harassment, and the security violations — the third disciplinary action against him by the Commission since 2018. Oakley denied the allegations as "false and misleading" and politically motivated. He resigned as Burnet County Judge shortly after, effective January 2, 2025.