Date of Offense
Offense(s)
Supporting Document(s)
Statement
CLEET Number : 0046581
License Type : Fulltime Peace Officer
License Category : Advanced Certification
License Status : Active
License Effective Date : 03/01/1991
License Expiry Date : N/A
Jesse Yother, the elected Undersheriff of Coal County, Oklahoma, who currently faces felony and misdemeanor charges arising from a July domestic incident involving Coal County Sheriff Jason Smith. A multi-county grand jury returned an indictment charging Yother with felony intimidation of a witness and misdemeanor obstructing an officer. The case is filed in the District Court of Coal County as State of Oklahoma v. Yother, Jesse, Case No. CF-2025-00071, with the filing date of November 21, 2025, and is assigned to Judge Mark Campbell. The docket reflects that District Attorney Chuck Sullivan is the prosecuting attorney and the Oklahoma Attorney General is listed as the arresting agency.
Public reporting by KTEN News explains that the charges against Undersheriff Yother and Sheriff Smith stem from the same July domestic dispute. Sheriff Smith is alleged to have struck his wife and another man and is separately charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery and domestic assault and battery. Yother is accused of interfering with a Coalgate police officer’s response to that incident and of pressuring a witness to change her statement about what occurred.
The OSCN docket indicates that after the indictment was filed, there were subsequent filings including an application to file the indictment under seal, an order determining venue and sealing the indictment, an initial appearance order, and a personal recognizance bond. A court minute also reflects a recusal order. A “special docket” hearing is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. on February 6, 2026.
In any case where Yother has authored reports, supervised the investigation, participated in a use-of-force incident, signed probable-cause affidavits, maintained chain of custody, or is expected to testify, a reasonable defense attorney would seek to use the existence and nature of CF-2025-00071 to challenge his credibility, bias, and motive. The close linkage between his charges and those filed against Sheriff Smith, together with the Attorney General’s public comments questioning the sheriff’s fitness to serve, underscores broader concerns about the culture and integrity of the Coal County Sheriff’s Office leadership.
Accordingly, State v. Yother, Jesse, CF-2025-00071 should be treated as an active Brady/Giglio matter. At a minimum, prosecutors in any case where Undersheriff Yother is a material witness or affiant should disclose: the existence of the indictment; the specific counts (felony intimidation of a witness and misdemeanor obstructing an officer); the basic factual allegations as reflected in public records and reporting; the case’s current procedural status; and any subsequent developments such as plea negotiations, deferred adjudication, conviction, or judicial findings related to witness tampering or obstruction.
We will not stand by as our brothers and sisters are brutalized, criminalized, and silenced.
We reject a world where the powerful profit from our poverty and our lives are treated as expendable. We will not wait for justice to be handed down from above.
We will organize, resist, and take it for ourselves.
WE ARE NO LONGER ASKING...
#ReformIsNotARequest
