Grant Harden

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

The attorney for Llano Police Chief Kevin Ratliff said Thursday his client has done nothing wrong and is looking forward to his case being “set for trial as soon as the law allows us.”

“Unless there is some evidence out there that I don't know of which convinces me otherwise, I believe my client has done nothing wrong,” said defense attorney Austin Shell. “I believe his presence prevented a situation from getting out of hand and he handled the situation calmly and coolly and his actions prevented a man from being tased.”

LPD officer indicted

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Llano Police Department (LPD) Ofcr. Grant Harden has been indicted by a Llano County Grand Jury on six various counts related to video evidence of a June traffic stop.

Harden had been banned from the dispatch and administrative areas of the Llano County Law Enforcement Center since around that time and was further blocked from entering the jail recently. Sheriff Bill Blackburn said that was because of “not being professional while in the jail area.”

The indictments, recorded Tuesday, Dec. 5 include two third-degree felony charges of tampering or fabricating physical evidence; one count of a state jail felony of tampering with a governmental record and three counts of a Class A felony, official oppression.