Former Clayton Sheriff Victor Hill running for state Senate

On his next-to-last day as sheriff he filed for bankruptcy, claiming he couldn’t pay $1.7 million in damages from several lawsuits generated during his tumultuous four years as sheriff.

Of that $1.7 million, he owed $475,000 to Mark Tuggle, the brother of Hill’s predecessor as sheriff, Stanley Tuggle. Mark Tuggle won a lawsuit against Hill in U.S. District Court after a jury found Hill guilty of false arrest.

The 27 deputies Hill fired later sued for wrongful termination, got their jobs back and won a $7 million settlement that Clayton County paid.

Tuggle said Wednesday that he still has not collected from Hill, yet he’s not surprised to see Hill running for office again in Clayton.

“In his little bitty mind, Victor thinks he done a good job as sheriff,” said Tuggle, who was so angered and shaken by his arrest, plus the 30 hours he spent in Clayton County's jail, that the day after he was released he moved out of the county to Jefferson, Ga. He still lives there.

Hill could not be reached for comment by phone or at his home in Riverdale.

Seay said she hasn’t spoken to Hill since he registered his candidacy with the state Elections Commission on Monday, and she, and other people she said she has since talked to, weren’t even sure he still lived in Clayton.

“Most people in the county hadn’t heard of him since he left office,” she told the AJC. “Folks have been wondering where he was, and all of a sudden he pops up qualifying.”

Seay said she encouraged Hill to get into politics and run for her former seat in the state House of Representatives when she decided to run for the state Senate. He served one term and then ran for sheriff.

“He left the county in debt and the Sheriff’s Office needing equipment,” she said. "One of the reasons I stopped endorsing people in my district was because of him.”