A petition and suit was filed in District Court last week to remove longtime County Judge Sherri L. Harrison from office before the end of her term.

The suit was filed on June 21 and it calls for Harrison’s removal from office on grounds that she consistently shows incompetence, official misconduct and habitual drunkenness.

The file details multiple instances – many of which occurred over the past seven months – in which Harrison was called on to perform her magistrate duties and was suspected of being intoxicated.

In one incident, Harrison was called on to sign a search warrant on the night of March 28 and did so while seemingly intoxicated. The officer observed her to appear disheveled, was swaying, had slurred speech and was speaking erratically. The interaction was recorded on body camera.

Following that incident, Harrison sent a text to the suspect’s wife – photos of which are included in the filing – warning her that the warrant for her husband had just been signed. The judge called the wife again the next day asking “persistent and intruding questions.”

The incident is one of several detailed in the pages of the petition and suit, which was filed by County Attorney Michaela E. Kee on behalf of the state.

Harrison has served Bailey County since 1998. She took office first as Bailey County Clerk and served in that position for just more than six years. In 2005, she was appointed to serve an unexpired term as the County Judge and kept the seat through multiple elections until this year. Harrison was officially unseated in March by a vote of 460-414 in favor of opponent Basil Nash.

Nash is set to take his seat in January at the expiration of Harrison’s term.

Keep up with The Journal for more on this case.