Clayton County Sheriff Indicted For Civil Rights Violations

ATLANTA — Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill was indicted Tuesday on federal civil rights violations for strapping several pretrial inmates into “restraint chairs” for hours.

FBI agents arrested Hill early in the day and he was eventually released on $50,00 bond, U.S. Department of Justice officials said.

Authorities accuse Hill of excessive use of force and say he illegally used the “restraint chairs” — designed to keep inmates from harming themselves or others — to discipline three cooperative offenders brought into the Clayton County jail at different times in 2020, and as retribution against a contractor who had a dispute with a sheriff’s deputy.

“While the vast majority of our law enforcement officers perform their duties bravely, professionally, and with honor, those few who abuse their power must be held accountable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Our constitution prohibits law enforcement officers from using unreasonable force. Without justification, Sheriff Hill allegedly ordered four detainees to be strapped into restraint chairs for hours. In so doing, he caused pain and injury to the detainees in his care. Sheriff Hill’s actions, as alleged by the grand jury, deprived the citizens he was sworn to protect of their civil rights. Such abuses of power not only harm the victims, they also erode the community’s trust in law enforcement.”

The federal indictment described the Clayton County “inmate restraint chair” policy as a tool to be “used by security staff to provide safe containment of an inmate exhibiting violent or uncontrollable behavior and to prevent self-injury injury to others or property damage when other control techniques are not effective.”

But in keeping with the Fourteenth Amendment’s call for due process, the policy noted the use of restraint chairs “will never be authorized for punishment.”

According to the indictment, Hill ordered sheriff’s deputies to strap three men into the restraint chairs when they arrived at the jail — and in at least one case, before even being arrested — for a number of offenses, including a domestic disturbance, vandalism and a “dispute” with a pair of women.

In each case, the men arrested, who were identified only by their initials, were ordered by Hill to be strapped into the restraint chairs while he chastised them, then left for hours, despite the fact that each of them cooperated with jail personnel and did not pose any danger, court records say. One of the men urinated on himself.

The fourth case involved a contractor from Butts County who was arguing with a sheriff’s deputy about payment for work he had done for the deputy, court documents say. According to the indictment, Hill called the contractor, identifying himself and asking about the cause of the dispute. The contractor told Hill to “tell his deputy to pay his bill,” then cursed Hill, unaware if the caller was actually the sheriff, the indictment said.

Hill put out a warrant for the man’s arrest on a misdemeanor harassing communication charge and sent his heavily armed fugitive squad to the man’s home to bring him to the jail, court records said. Authorities said Hill also sent the man several text messages of warning:

“[T]his is Sheriff Victor Hill. We have a warrant for your arrest. Would you like to turn yourself in, or have my Deputies find you?” The next morning, April 25, 2020, Hill again allegedly texted G.H., “My Deputies are actively looking for you. We have not and will not agree for you to turn yourself in when you want to. Turn yourself in today.”

The man turned himself in with his lawyer, but when he was booked into the jail, Hill ordered the man to be strapped into the restraint chair to sit immobile for hours.

The case is being investigated by the FBI.

“Badges and guns don't come with the authority to ignore the Constitution. They come with the responsibility to protect it from anyone who would violate it, especially another public servant,” said Christopher Macrae, FBI Atlanta’s assistant special agent in charge. “Sheriff Hill is alleged to have abused his privileges and abandoned his responsibilities and the FBI is committed to restoring trust in law enforcement by holding him accountable.”