Oakley resigns as Burnet County judge

Burnet County Judge James Oakley resigned Dec. 18, 2024, following a public reprimand for courthouse security violations and sexual harassment of a justice of the peace. File photo
Burnet County Judge James Oakley resigned from his position on Dec. 18 following a reprimand from the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct for courthouse security violations and the sexual harassment of Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Lisa Whitehead and at least two other women.
Oakley submitted his resignation to Burnet County Attorney Eddie Arredondo on Wednesday afternoon. It will not be final until accepted and recognized by the Burnet County Commissioners Court, but the terms dictate he will be out of office by Jan. 2, 2025.
The remaining four members of the Commissioners Court will appoint a temporary judge, who cannot be a court member, to take Oakley’s place until voters can choose a new judge in the next possible Burnet County election. The newly elected judge will finish out the remainder of Oakley’s term, which would be through 2026.
Oakley received an official reprimand from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct on Dec. 11, admonishing him for a series of security violations for tampering with the entrance to a courtroom in the Burnet County Courthouse and for numerous instances of sexual harassment toward JP Whitehead and other unnamed women.
In a statement to DailyTrib.com, Oakley announced his resignation and his reasons for it.
“In recent years, the extreme lack of civility in public discourse has caused me to reevaluate how I want to spend my day-to-day life,” he wrote. “My priorities are to protect my health/safety and that of my wife and family. As I am eligible for retirement, I have made the decision to resign my position effective January 2, 2025, such that I can achieve other personal goals and projects.”
According to County Attorney Arredondo, Oakley will not participate in Commissioners Court meetings for the remainder of his time as county judge, including the 9 a.m. meeting Thursday.
Arredondo said his office began its own inquiry into the accusations on Dec. 13 following the reprimand from the state commission.
“If you read the reprimand, it indicates that there are ‘others’,” he said. “At that point, we needed to make sure that employees were safe, so we started our inquiry.”
Arredondo said Oakley approached him on Tuesday and indicated he intended to resign on Wednesday.
An excerpt from the judicial conduct commission’s reprimand reads:
“(This reprimand is for Oakley’s) failure to be patient, dignified and courteous when he sexually harassed Judge Whitehead and created a hostile work environment;
“and his failure to perform his judicial duties without bias or prejudice and/or manifested bias or prejudice towards Judge Whitehead through his words and conduct and his pattern of sexual harassment towards other women in Burnet County.
“Judge Oakley’s failure in these respects constituted willful or persistent conduct that is clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of his duties and cast public discredit upon the judiciary or the administration of justices …”
Whitehead’s specific accusations against Oakley indicated he had exhibited inappropriate behavior for years, naming multiple instances of unwanted touching and sexually explicit comments toward her and others.
“Judge Oakley also directs persistent and similar sexual harassing behavior toward many other women in the courthouse and the community at large,” reads a statement from Whitehead to the judicial conduct commission. “I am aware of his saying or doing similarly inappropriate things to other women around Burnet County. Many are current county employees who may not feel they can say something to their supervisors, or even if their supervisor was supportive, they could have a concern that Judge Oakley might retaliate against them individually or their departments.”
Oakley denied the allegations in interviews with the judicial conduct commission leading up to his reprimand and again in an interview with DailyTrib.com for an article about the reprimand published Dec. 16.
Oakley was first elected to Burnet County office in 1998 as Precinct 4 commissioner, a position he held for eight years. He was then elected as county judge in 2014 and re-elected to that position in 2018 and 2022.
Oakley’s resignation statement to DailyTrib.com was preceded by the following:
“I have been humbled and honored to have been elected by the public to serve the public as Burnet County Judge for the last 10 years. Prior to that, I was equally honored to serve for 8 years as a Burnet County Commissioner starting in 1999. I’m most proud of the excellent financial condition of Burnet County as well as the land and facilities now in place. That includes the renovation of the 1884 Historic Jailhouse Museum & Visitors Center, Oakalla Schoolhouse, acquisition of the old Burnet Elementary School, the donation of 800 acres for public use, and other land and buildings to accommodate our growing citizen’s needs.”
Additional reporting by Elizabeth De Los Santos and Suzanne Freeman.
10 thoughts on “Oakley resigns as Burnet County judge”
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Maybe now that awful bridge idea from Granite Shoals to Cottonwood Shores will die! Save the beautiful bald eagles! This bridge needs to be stopped! We should not sacrifice nature’s gifts for the convenience to get to Horseshoe Bay faster! Hopefully now that Oakley (it’s biggest supporter) is out it will be over!
The bridge has more to do with emergency response times. Oakley aside, it’s actually a need for the region.
The impact to bald eagles is minimal at best. I say that as a staunch hobby environmentalist. It requires compromise to meet the practical needs of a growing region (that will grow with or without guidance). A better effort would be spent on working against developers clear cutting trees and the aggressive aggregate mining operations.
Thank goodness!!!
Bout time. Maybe now Burnet County can get back to work and integrity, respect and listening to the taxpayers when they speak at meetings will be brought back to the office and the court.
Hope he resigns from PEC board too.
Judith,
No, the demorats pushed this, PEC needs and I want him on the boardd.
Please move
No, no politics here. Oakley clearly did this to himself. PEC should have policies in place for Directors that addresses their conduct and behavior outside the board. Directors should also be held to a higher standard in representing their members.
Just wait until you read about his escapades in Lakeway!
If anyone is interested in Judge Oakley’s entire letter of resignation, here it is:
“I have been humbled and honored to have been elected by the public to serve the citizens as Burnet County Judge for the last 10 years. Prior to that, I was equally honored to serve for 8 years as a Burnet County Commissioner starting in 1999. I’m most proud of Burnet County’s excellent financial condition and the facilities in place. That includes the renovation of the Historic Jail Museum & Visitors Center, Oakalla Schoolhouse, the acquisition of the old Burnet Elementary School, the donation of 800 acres for public use, and other land and buildings to accommodate our growing public need.
In recent years, the lack of civility in public discourse has caused me to reevaluate how I want to spend my day-to-day life. My priorities are to protect my health/safety and that of my wife and family. As I am eligible for retirement, I have made the decision to resign my position effective January 2, 2025, so that I can achieve other personal and professional goals.” – Burnet County Judge James Oakley, December 18, 2024
Playing the victim.