HAMILTON, Texas (KWTX) – A regional administrative judge ordered the temporary suspension of embattled Hamilton County Sheriff Brad Boulton Wednesday while swearing in a retired Texas Ranger as his interim replacement.
Judge Dib Waldrip, presiding judge of the 3rd Judicial Administrative Region, issued his ruling in a civil removal case filed by Hamilton County resident Chad Renfro seeking Boulton’s ouster from office.
Boulton, who remains free on bond, did not return phone messages Wednesday. He was arrested by Texas Rangers in January and has since been indicted on 10 criminal counts alleging a link to the sale of weight loss products.
Waldrip swore in Tommy Ratliff, a retired Texas Ranger and former Hays County sheriff, as interim Hamilton County sheriff. Ratliff will start his new duties after posting an officeholder bond and will serve no longer than Dec. 31, 2028, according to Waldrip’s order.
The indictment against Boulton alleges three counts of abuse of official capacity, one count of making a false statement to a peace officer, one count of failure to report a felony involving serious bodily injury and five counts of tampering with governmental records.
Judge Shaun Carpenter of 220th State District Court in Hamilton County has set an Oct. 5 trial date for Boulton on the criminal charges.
The abuse of official capacity charge against Boulton alleges he “with intent to obtain a benefit or harm or defraud another,” failed to or refused to arrest a woman, identified as Erika Bedell, for a charge of practicing medicine without a license causing harm.
Bedell was arrested in September 2025 and was charged with five felonies and one misdemeanor related to illegally selling weight loss drugs. The charge alleges Boulton knew of the crime and failed to take proper action.
According to arrest documents, Boulton “knowingly made a false entry in a government record, namely a monthly community service time sheet, the false entry being the addition of working 8 hours that were, in part or full, not worked by” Bedell on Oct. 4 and 5, 2024, December 9 and 13, 2024, and March 12, 2025.
On May 5, 2025, Boulton is alleged to have violated the law “by possessing a dangerous drug, promoting or facilitating the delivery of a dangerous drug or tampering with a government record,” according to an arrest affidavit.
The affidavit alleges that Boulton also failed to immediately report a felony “in which serious bodily injury or death may have resulted, namely, delivery of a dangerous drug or practicing medicine without a license, causing harm.”
Boulton also is charged with making a false statement to a peace officer conducting a criminal investigation, “namely that the defendant was unaware of any Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputies or Hamilton County public officials involved in the usage of GLP-1 substances,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Copyright 2026 KWTX. All rights reserved.