Curtis Hill facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Curtis Hill
Hill in 2018
43rd Attorney General of Indiana
In office January 9, 2017 – January 11, 2021
Governor	Eric Holcomb
Preceded by	Greg Zoeller
Succeeded by	Todd Rokita
Prosecuting Attorney for Elkhart County
In office January 1, 2003 – January 9, 2017
Preceded by	Michael Cosentino
Succeeded by	Vicki Becker
Personal details
Born	Curtis Theophilus Hill Jr. (1961-02-21) February 21, 1961 (age 63) Elkhart, Indiana, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Teresa
Children	5
Education	Indiana University, Bloomington (BS, JD)

Curtis Theophilus Hill Jr. (born February 21, 1961) is an American prosecutor from the Republican Party who served as the 43rd Attorney General of Indiana from 2017 to 2021.

A graduate of Indiana University and Indiana University School of Law, Hill was a lawyer in private practice and part-time prosecutor until 2002, when he was elected Elkhart County prosecutor. He was reelected to the post, ultimately serving four terms from 2003 before his election as state attorney general in 2016.

..... Hill has denied the allegations. A subsequent investigation by a special prosecutor found the allegations credible, but also found that there was insufficient evidence to convict Hill of a crime. In 2020, in an attorney disciplinary proceeding, the Indiana Supreme Court found that he committed a misdemeanor battery in violation of rules of professional conduct, and suspended Hill's bar license for 30 days.

In July 2020, he was defeated by Todd Rokita for the Republican nomination of Indiana Attorney General. He ran for Governor of Indiana in 2024, but came in last place in the primary against outgoing U.S. Senator Mike Braun and others.

Early life and education

Hill was born and raised in Elkhart, Indiana, the youngest son of Curtis Hill Sr. (a postal worker and civil rights activist) and Eleanor (a cosmetologist). Hill studied business at Indiana University and received his J.D. degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.

Legal career

Hill was a lawyer in private practice and a part-time prosecutor until 2002, when he was elected as county prosecutor for Elkhart County in Northern Indiana. Hill was re-elected to a further three terms. Like all Elkhart County prosecutors since 1938, Hill was elected as a Republican. Hill was recruited by National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Tom Cole to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006, but he declined to run.

Indiana Attorney General

Campaign

In 2016, Hill ran as a Republican for Indiana attorney general, seeking to succeed Greg Zoeller, who did not seek reelection. Hill ran against former Lake County Circuit Court Judge Lorenzo Arredondo, the Democratic nominee. Hill significantly outspent Arredondo in the race.

On November 8, 2016, Hill defeated Arredondo, receiving 1,643,689 votes (61.94%) to Arredondo's 994,085 votes (38.06%).

Tenure

Hill is the first African American man to become Indiana Attorney General.

As attorney general, Hill was viewed as a rising star within the Republican Party. He has frequently tweeted on national issues, and was speculated as a potential future candidate for U.S. Senate. As attorney general, Hill promoted conservative, and particularly socially conservative, policies. He opposed efforts to downplay opposition to same-sex marriage in the state Republican Party's platform. Hill also met with President Donald Trump at the White House on at least four occasions to discuss various issues.

Drug policy

..... Although a state law passed in April 2018 legalized the possession and use of a particular cannabidiol oil by persons registered with the Indiana Department of Health, Hill determined that the selling or distributing CBD oil was still illegal "under any circumstances, and even individuals entitled to use CBD oil under state law still are prohibited by federal law from doing so." The following year, the Indiana General Assembly overruled Hill's opinion, passing new legislation reaffirming and expanding CBD's legality in Indiana; the bill was passed 97–0 in the House and 36–11 in the Senate and was signed into law by Governor Eric Holcomb.

Hill strongly opposed needle exchange programs, and successfully pressured Madison County to halt its program. ..... In 2017, Hill filed an appeal from a U.S. district court decision holding that Indiana's forfeiture law was a violation of the U.S. Constitution's due process clause. In 2017, Hill joined with other conservative attorneys general in a filing in the U.S. Supreme Court defending "stop-and-frisk" programs from constitutional challenge.

Expenditures

In August 2017, Hill was criticized by some state legislators for spending $279,000 in state funds for renovations to his office at the Indiana State House, and for spending almost $31,000 in state funds for the purchase of a large passenger van to serve as a mobile office. Hill's office defended the expenditures.

Animal welfare and economic issues

As attorney general, Hill led a 17-state lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, seeking to strike down a Massachusetts state animal welfare law that would require eggs, pork, and veal sold in Massachusetts "to come from animals raised with room to lie down and turn around without touching an enclosure" beginning in 2022. Under Hill, Indiana was also one of 13 states that sued California over a law that bars eggs sold in California from coming from battery cage hens. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to accept original jurisdiction over both suits.

Objection to voting rights consent decree

In 2018, Hill objected to a consent decree to add additional early voting locations in Marion County. The decree, resulting from an agreement between Common Cause Indiana. the Indianapolis NAACP, and the county Election Board, resolved a voting rights lawsuit. The consent decree was approved over Hill's objections by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, who wrote: "The state's lawyers may entertain what preferences they will, but violations of federal rights justify the imposition of federal remedies." Hill was criticized for his intervention in the case by Common Cause, the NAACP, and the Election Board, as well as Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson (a fellow Republican) who said that: "By his reckless action, the Attorney General has disrupted more than 18 months of productive bi-partisan conversations."

COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana, when local governments imposed restrictions on the size of gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Hill sent a letter to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Marion County health department head Virginia Caine, asserting that the restrictions, when applied to religious gatherings, were unconstitutional religious discrimination. The local government disagreed with Hill's position.

Public records violation

As attorney general, Hill used personal email accounts to conduct public business, a practice that is discouraged by experts in open government and cybersecurity. In documents produced to the Indianapolis Star following a public-records request made by the newspaper in July 2018, Hill's office redacted personal email addresses. In March 2019, following a complaint by the Star, Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke H. Britt released an opinion stating that Hill's office violated the Indiana Access to Public Records Act by redacting "private email addresses embedded in otherwise disclosable public records." Hill's office refused to produce the names of the email addresses even after being notified by the Indiana Public Access Counselor that Hill's office was in violation of the public records laws, citing a different exemption as a reason to withhold the email addresses. The Indianapolis Star then successfully sued Hill and the AG's office; in 2021, a state judge ruled that Hill broke Indiana public records law and that private emails accounts that were used for public business constituted public records. The court ordered the AG's office to pay the newspaper $49,150 in attorneys' fees and imposed a $100 civil penalty on Hill, possibly the first time that an Indiana public employee was formally sanctioned by a court for failing to comply with public records law.

Defeat for renomination

Despite the allegations against him, Hill continued to seek the Republican re-nomination for attorney general in the 2020 election. He was opposed by three challengers — Decatur County prosecutor Nate Harter, former U.S. Representative Todd Rokita, and Indianapolis attorney John Westercamp — all of whom called into question Hill's fitness for office. The nominee was selected through a Republican state convention, rather than a primary election. In mail-in voting at the Republican state convention, Rokita defeated Hill for renomination. Rokita received 52% of the vote on the third round (after Westercamp was eliminated on the first ballot and Harter was eliminated in the second). In the general election, Rokita defeated Democratic nominee Jonathan Weinzapfel, marking the sixth consecutive election in which Republicans retained control of the Indiana AG's office.

Indiana 2nd congressional district campaign

After the death of U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski, Hill attempted to replace her on the November 2022 ballot. He was defeated at the Indiana Republican Party's caucus for the nomination by Rudy Yakym.

Personal life

Hill is married; he and his wife Teresa have five children. In his spare time, he moonlights as an Elvis impersonator.