On Monday, the Indiana Supreme Court announced that it was suspending GOP Attorney General Curtis Hill’s law license for 30 days beginning on May 18 with an automatic reinstatement afterwards. However, as we’ll explain, it remains to be seen whether Hill will still be in office after his punishment is over.
Hill’s sanction came about two years after four women accused him of groping them at a party, and the justices agreed that Hill had “committed the criminal act of battery.” However, the ruling also said that there wasn’t enough evidence to demonstrate that the attorney general had shown the “wholesale lack of insight or lack of remorse that ordinarily would prompt us” to require him to “prove his fitness to resume the practice of law” after his sentence was over.
The ruling did not say, though, whether or not Hill will be able to remain in office. The state requires its attorney general to be “duly licensed to practice law in Indiana,” but there’s no agreement whether or not a suspended license is acceptable. The state House, with GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb's support, tried to clarify this in March by passing an amendment that would remove the attorney general from office if their license were suspended for at least 30 days, but the provision died in the Senate.
Holcomb, who would be tasked with appointing a new attorney general if the post became vacant, said Monday that he wasn’t sure what would happen next. The governor said he and his legal team would “see what are the steps ahead, what do they look like,” and added that they’d work as quickly as possible to figure out what the law requires.
Hill made it clear last year that he’d seek a second term, and there’s no indication that he’s reconsidering. However, he already faces an intra-party challenge from two other Republicans, attorney John Westercamp and Decatur County Prosecutor Nate Harter, and a familiar name may also join the race. Former Rep. Todd Rokita, who lost the 2018 GOP primary for Senate, has hinted that he’s interested, and he has until May 20 to enter the contest.
No matter what happens, we’ll know in a few weeks if Hill will be Team Red’s candidate this fall. Both parties in Indiana select nominees for attorney general at conventions rather than in party primaries, and the GOP gathering is scheduled for June 20, days after Hill’s license is to be renewed. The party still plans for the event to take place in-person, though it has plans in place to make this a virtual gathering with mail-in ballots if necessary.
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