Officer(s) Involved: Clayton County, Georgia, Sheriff Victor Hill.
Synopsis: Victor Hill first assumed the office of Clayton County sheriff in January 2005. On his first day in office, Hill terminated 27 of his 345 employees and had them escorted from the building with snipers posted on the roof.
The firings angered members of the department and raised suspicions that they were racially motivated. Hill is black. The fired employees included four of the highest-ranking officers, all of them white.
Hill, 39, defended the firings as legal, though he refused to say why the employees were fired. Hill said he had the right to shake up the department in whatever way he felt necessary. A day later, a judge ordered Hill to rehire the employees, saying it appeared they were terminated without cause and in violation of civil service rules.
Hill also said it was necessary to fire the workers the way he did, including taking some deputies home in vans normally used to transport prisoners because the deputies were barred from using county cars.
Sheriff Hill was among a spate of black candidates elected last year in the county, which was once dominated by rural whites. The fired employees included four of the highest-ranking officers, all of them white. Sheriff Hill told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that their replacements would be black.
Sheriff Hill’s move provoked an angry reaction from the newly elected chairman of the county commission, Eldrin Bell, who is black. He called the move illegal and filed a restraining order granted by the judge, Stephen Boswell.
The charges stem from Hill’s first term from 2005 to 2008. Hill was not in office in 2012 when he was indicted on 37 counts, allegedly using his office for personal gain. Hill lost the Democratic primary to Kem Kimbrough in August 2008, by less than 1,000 votes. After the defeat, Hill quits coming to the office.
In December 2008, Hill filed for bankruptcy, listing as debts judgments owed as a result of lawsuits brought by employees and others. He left office after filing bankruptcy.
Hill defeated Kimbrough in the August 2012 Democratic primary, winning about 54% of the vote. In August 2013, Hill’s trial begins.
Outcome: After one day of deliberations, the jury clears Hill on all counts, and Hill resumes his duties as Clayton County sheriff.
