(Missourinet) – According to the state Attorney General, the sheriff in southeast Missouri’s Mississippi County has been ousted after Friday night’s inmate death at the county jail in Charleston.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office filed 18 felony counts earlier this year against Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson. Hawley said an inmate died Friday night at the county jail in Charleston, after an altercation that the AG said Hutcheson was directly involved in.

Hawley held a Wednesday news conference in Jefferson City, saying that Sheriff Hutcheson has been ousted by the court.

“We have sought a quo warranto it’s called, and the judge granted that on a preliminary basis last (Tuesday) night,” Hawley said. “And so he (Hutcheson) is currently ousted. Now he will formally have a chance to make his case and try to get reinstated.”

Hawley said inmate Tory Sanders died Friday evening, adding that the death happened after Hutcheson’s license as sheriff had already been suspended.

Hawley said Sanders is black and Hutcheson is white, and that the Justice Department and FBI have been alerted.

AG Hawley did not have details on Wednesday about what Sanders had been arrested for on Friday morning.

Hawley will travel to Charleston Thursday morning to get briefed and plans a 4 p.m. news conference in Jefferson City, when he returns.

During Wednesday’s news conference at the Missouri Attorney General’s office, Hawley addressed Sanders’ family in Tennessee.

“I am deeply sorry for your loss, and I pledge to you that my office will bring the full force of the law to bear to see that justice is done in this case,” Hawley said.

There were about a dozen reporters in the room for that news conference, and several southeast Missouri reporters asked Hawley questions on the phone.

A “quo warranto” essentially challenges someone’s right to hold an office.

Hawley tells Missourinet a quo warranto is an “extraordinary motion,” adding that he believes it’s been nearly two decades since the Missouri Attorney General’s office brought a quo warranto motion against a law enforcement official.

Hawley said Sanders was involved in two altercations with Mississippi County jail personnel on Friday evening, and that Hutcheson directed the second altercation.

In early April, the Attorney General’s office filed criminal charges against Sheriff Hutcheson in two cases. Those charges include assault, robbery, forgery and tampering.

Hawley said it’s unclear what Hutcheson was doing at the jail Friday night.