Update: Charges Dropped Against Prayer and Pledge-Defending Court Clerk

In New Boston, Texas, a very public debate between Bowie County Judge Sterling Lacy and County Clerk Natalie Nichols over prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance has finally been settled.

Last week, The Blaze reported on the local controversy, which quickly made its way onto the national stage. Allow me to recap.

Before the court begins its official business each day, it recites the Pledge of Allegiance and says a prayer. Despite this regular occurrence, Judge Lacy has purportedly sought to exclude prayer and pledge recitations from the official record of proceedings.

As a number of outlets have reported, Nichols disagreed with Judge Lacy's stance and she refused to erase the pledge and the prayer from the meeting's minutes (after all, they occurred and she contended that they should be reflected in official records). During a meeting that surrounded this subject, the situation between the two parties became heated.

Following Nichols making her stance on the issue known, the judge filed a complaint with the County Sheriff, which alleged that the County Clerk had disrupted proceedings. The potential penalty for her actions? Fines -- even jail time. Nichols responded by filing an assault complaint, alleging that the judge barged into her office and wouldn't allow her to keep him out.

Despite this legal drama, the case is now closed and both complaints have officially been dropped. KTBS.com reports:

Observers of the dispute say the judge wanted the minutes out of the minutes to guard against litigation by the ACLU and to avoid giving the impression the commission was taking an official stance on prayer. Lacy declined comment on that part of the issue.

Below, watch Nichols discuss the conclusion of the case on Fox News: