INDIANA – Indiana Atty. Gen. Curtis Hill will be suspended from practicing law for one month for groping several women, including a state lawmaker, in 2018, ruled the Disciplinary Commission of the Indiana Supreme Court. The suspension will begin May 18.
“Respondent (Hill) shall not undertake any new legal matters between service of this opinion and the effective date of the suspension, and respondent shall fulfill all the duties of a suspended attorney under Admission and Discipline Rule,” read the conclusion of the ruling.
Hill can be automatically reinstated, provided there are no other offenses between the date the suspension begins and ends.
“We find Respondent’s actions in the wake of the disclosure of the Taft Report do carry some aggravating weight, but not to an extent that entails the type of wholesale lack of insight or lack of remorse that ordinarily would prompt us to require a respondent attorney to undergo the reinstatement process in order to prove his fitness to resume the practice of law,” read the report.
The report says Hill was initially sorry for what happened, but also called him out for his press releases and the way he addressed the accusations in the media afterward, in which he called them false.
Later Monday afternoon Hill issued the following statement:
“I accept with humility and respect the Indiana Supreme Court’s ruling of a 30-day suspension of my license with automatic reinstatement.
“I have directed that beginning Monday, May 18, Chief Deputy Aaron Negangard will assume responsibility for the legal operations of this office during the temporary suspension of my license until it is reinstated on Wednesday, June 17.
“I offer my deepest gratitude to my family, friends and the entire staff of the Office of the Attorney General. My staff has worked tirelessly and without interruption and will continue to do so on behalf of all Hoosiers.”