Attorneys for suspended Clayton Sheriff Victor Hill have filed a lawsuit demanding Gov. Brian Kemp give the controversial sheriff his job back.
Hill was indicted in April by federal authorities on charges alleging he violated the civil rights of four detainees by strapping them into restraint chairs as punishment at the south metro Atlanta county’s jail. Two months later, Gov. Kemp suspended him from duty, saying the indictment would impede Hill’s ability to do his job.
Hill, who calls himself THE CRIME FIGHTER, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In the lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court on Wednesday, attorneys for Hill said state law mandates that if someone suspended because of an indictment “is not first tried at the next regular or special term following the indictment, the suspension shall be terminated and the public official shall be reinstated,” the lawsuit said.
But legal experts previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that state law doesn’t apply on federal indictments because federal courts do not have the same terms as the state.
The litigation was filed by sheriff’s office attorney Alan Parker and Matt Tucker, a private lawyer who has said he is working for a group supporting Hill. Tucker has declined to identify the group.
Parker and Tucker made the same argument two weeks ago when they sent a letter to Kemp’s office arguing that Hill’s suspension should be ended. The governor took no action.
“Because the continuation of this suspension is not supported by law, and his ‘suspension’ has now expired in excess of twenty-seven days, the only statutory remedy is to reinstate the Sheriff immediately,” Parker and Tucker said in the letter to Kemp’s office.
After Hill’s suspension, the next two terms of court for Fulton County — which is home to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern District — took place in July and September.
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