Former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill, who is serving an 18-month prison sentence in Arkansas, is expected to testify in a federal lawsuit next month in Atlanta.
U.S. District Court Judge J.P. Boulee last month directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to make Hill available at 9 a.m. on Aug. 22 in the case of Kyetha Sweeting, a former Clayton County corrections officer who was fired in 2019 while Hill was still sheriff. Her lawsuit claims the sheriff’s office violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when the department dismissed her in January 2019, despite repeated requests for accommodations for a neurological disorder that caused debilitating migraine headaches.
Hill reported to FCI Forrest City in Forrest City, Arkansas, in May for violating the civil rights of six detainees at the Clayton County jail. A federal jury in October convicted the longtime sheriff of ordering staff to strap the detainees to restraint chairs as punishment, a misuse of the devices.
Sweeting, who had worked for the sheriff’s office since 2011, also was moved from a day shift to a night shift after she complained about a lack of support for her disability by supervisors, the lawsuit alleges.
The case was put on hold in October 2021 after Hill was indicted on the criminal violations, and later suspended from office by Gov. Brian Kemp pending the outcome of his trial.
The lawsuit was reopened in January with Levon Allen, who was interim sheriff at the time, named as the defendant in his capacity as the new leader of the sheriff’s office. Allen won a full-term as Clayton sheriff in a special election runoff in April.
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