Michael Dixon will remain Osage County's sheriff for the time being.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled Thursday officials didn't follow the required procedures in seeking to discipline Dixon's peace officer's license.
He ordered the Administrative Hearing Commission to hold a new hearing on the state's decision to revoke Dixon's license, "for a "cause' determination."
And, if the AHC determines in that new hearing there is cause to revoke the license, Beetem said, then the Public Safety Department must "conduct a new disciplinary hearing."
In a footnote, Beetem said his 28-page ruling "makes no determination that, after a fair hearing," officials still might find a reason to revoke Dixon's license.
Beetem's ruling came three months to the day after he heard oral arguments in the case, when Dixon's attorneys argued his "equal protection rights have been violated" in the state's revocation efforts.
In his order and judgment, Beetem said there had been "a number of procedural irregularities" that, "taken as a whole ... leaves this Court firmly convinced that (Dixon) did not receive a fair trial."
He noted the Public Safety department sought to revoke Dixon's license after he pleaded guilty July 1, 2014, to a misdemeanor harassment charge involving a female Belle police officer who had been part of his staff when he was Belle's police chief.
That plea, the department said, showed Dixon had committed an act of moral turpitude while on duty.
But the case had a number of procedural problems, Beetem noted.
"The entire purpose of the administrative rules is to allow a party to submit its claims on the merits when there is a genuine dispute," the judge wrote. "Here, the AHC's disregard of several of its own procedural rules constitutes grounds for reversal of the Final Decision."
The state's case relied on the plea agreement from the 2014 harassment case.
"In light of the entire record, the Plea Agreement is not competent, substantial evidence that cause existed to discipline Dixon's license," Beetem wrote.
The judge also found the Administrative Hearing Commission used the probable cause statement from the original criminal case for part of its decision.
But, Beetem said the probable cause state was rife with hearsay, which generally is not admissible.
Because the AHC's decision was based on flawed procedures and evidence, and the department relied on that decision for its final decision to revoke Dixon's license, Beetem said, the final decision "must be overturned."
He noted the department's final decision came even though Dixon presented hours of testimony contradicting the AHC findings.
"Indeed, the Department's position at the (disciplinary) hearing indicated to this Court an attitude verging on arrogance permeating its proceedings," Beetem wrote.
"This is not justice."