MONTAGUE COUNTY (KFDX/KJTL) — The jail administrator for the Clay County Jail when Jeff Lyde was sheriff testified today that the suspended sheriff was aware two people had been held more than 48 hours without having charges filed.

Renee Weaver, the jail administrator at the time of the arrests in 2021, testified against Lyde on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, in the Montague County Courthouse.

Lyde is on trial on charges of official oppression and tampering with records.

The state alleges Landon Goad and Sarah Johnson were held longer than the law allows before charges were filed, and that Lyde withheld the affidavit which showed the two’s arrests for domestic violence were unjustified.

This trial concerns only the case of Goad.

Weaver testified this morning Lyde was aware that both suspects had been held illegally for more than 48 hours.

She said Johnson was placed on suicide watch but still tried to hang herself in jail.

Another witness, sheriff investigator William Norris, said Lyde called people like Goad and Johnson “crackheads” and “thieves” who should be locked up as long as possible.

Lyde has been suspended as sheriff since last February.