CHARLESTON, Mo. (AP) — A southeast Missouri judge has let stand for now an order by the state’s attorney general stripping a sheriff of his duties.

KFVS-TV reports Circuit Judge William Syler’s ruling against Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson came after a hearing Friday in Charleston. But Syler plans to hold another hearing on the matter.

Hutcheson faces 18 criminal charges and is under investigation in an inmate’s death.

Hutcheson was suspended after being arrested in April on counts alleging, among other things, that he handcuffed an innocent 77-year-old woman with such force that she suffered a heart attack. Attorney General Josh Hawley says Hutcheson was at the county jail May 5 and was involved in an altercation that led to 28-year-old inmate Tory Sanders’ death.

Hutcheson has denied the allegations.