Attorney general

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s governor is endorsing a proposal that could force the state's attorney general from office over allegations that he drunkenly groped four women.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb said Thursday that he supports a bill endorsed by the Indiana House that would prohibit anyone whose law license has been suspended for at least 30 days from serving as attorney general.

Republican Attorney General Curtis Hill is awaiting the state Supreme Court's decision on a recommendation that he face a minimum 60-day suspension.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Indiana’s attorney general by four women who say he drunkenly groped them during a party.

Republican Attorney General Curtis Hill has denied the allegations and his lawyers argued the women didn’t have a valid case for sexual harassment under federal law because they all worked for state government's legislative branch while Hill is an elected officer of the executive branch.

Curtis Hill would be forced to step down as Attorney General if his license was suspended for at least a month under an amendment passed by the House Monday.

The amendment’s author says this is in response to a disciplinary hearing officer’s recommendation last month of a 60-day suspension.

The amendment authored by Republican Representative Tim Wesco alters the qualifications to serve as Attorney General. Current law only requires the A.G. to have a law license and live in Indiana.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the State Department of Health and Human Services are warning people to watch out for scams related to the coronavirus.

Indiana’s attorney general announced Tuesday the state is joining a 39-state coalition to investigate Juul Labs – manufacturer behind a popular brand of small e-cigarette devices.

Attorney General Curtis Hill says the investigation will look into the company’s marketing practices and safety claims. It will also review whether the company has attempted to market tobacco products to children.

A Senate committee approved a bill Tuesday that retaliates against Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears over his decision not to prosecute simple marijuana possession.

The measure empowers the attorney general to take over those cases.

The bill says if a local prosecutor makes a policy decision not to prosecute certain crimes, the Indiana Attorney General can appoint a special prosecutor to do so and charge the county to pay for it.

Parvonay Stover represents the AG.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb isn't yet throwing his support behind a top official of his administration in challenging the state attorney general who is awaiting the outcome from an investigation into allegations of drunkenly groping four women.

The head of the Indiana Department of Revenue has decided to challenge embattled state Attorney General Curtis Hill’s bid seeking the Republican nomination for the office.

Adam Krupp says he would resign as the revenue department’s commissioner by the end of January to run full-time for attorney general. 

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb appointed Krupp to the position in 2017 after he previously was an attorney in then-Gov. Mike Pence’s office.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — As Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill awaits the outcome of a professional misconduct complaint involving his alleged drunken groping of four women, the embattled Republican also faces scrutiny over a string of financial decisions he’s made since taking office.

After he took office in 2017, Hill asked for a raise and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate his Statehouse office.

But Hill doesn't spend much time at that Indianapolis office.

The race for Indiana Attorney General has a new contender.

Former Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel announced Tuesday he will seek the Democratic nomination for AG next year.

That office is getting increased attention in the 2020 election cycle after current Attorney General Curtis Hill was accused of sexual misconduct by five women.

There are new allegations from the women suing Attorney General Curtis Hill and the state over accusations Hill groped them last year.

Three legislative staffers – Samantha Lozano, Gabrielle McLemore, and Niki DaSilva – and Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon (D-Munster) sued Curtis Hill and the state earlier this year. They level allegations of sexual harassment and employment retaliation.

A new filing in that case claims Lozano reported “unwelcome and inappropriate advances” by a male member of the General Assembly to the House Democratic chief of staff this past spring.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says the state Civil Rights Commission is not bound by her predecessor's determination that LGBT people are not protected by an anti-discrimination law.

The Democrat's office provided the informal guidance to the commission Tuesday. Nessel declined to issue a formal opinion because of pending litigation.

Former Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette issued an opinion last year saying the commission overstepped when it said the state's civil rights law covered sexual orientation and gender identity.

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana's attorney general is being sued in federal court by four women who say he drunkenly groped them during a party last year.

DETROIT (AP) — Hundreds of boxes. Millions of records. From Michigan to New Mexico this month, attorneys general are sifting through files on clergy sex abuse, seized through search warrants and subpoenas at dozens of archdioceses.

They're looking to prosecute, and not just priests. If the boxes lining the hallways of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's offices contain enough evidence, she said, she is considering using state racketeering laws usually reserved for organized crime. Prosecutors in Michigan are even volunteering on weekends to get through all the documents as quickly as possible.

Indiana’s Attorney General filed a new lawsuit aimed at the family behind Purdue Pharma. The state becomes the latest to accuse members of the Sackler family of exacerbating the opioid crisis.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's attorney general says she'll move to shut down an oil pipeline in the Great Lakes if the governor can't find a "swift and straightforward" resolution.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is open to allowing construction of tunnel beneath the lakebed to house a new segment of Line 5 in the channel where Lakes Huron and Michigan meet.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A major faith-based foster care and adoption contractor for the state of Michigan said Monday it will place children in LGBT homes, reversing course following a recent legal settlement.

 Grand Rapids-based Bethany Christian Services is responsible for about 8% of Michigan's more than 13,000 foster care and adoption cases involving children from troubled households.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says if the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision is overturned, she won't enforce state laws on the books that ban abortion.

The Democrat told a Planned Parenthood conference Tuesday that it's "likely" the 1973 ruling legalizing abortion will be reversed. But she says "we can and we will fight back."

She pledges to never prosecute a woman or her doctor for terminating a pregnancy.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has launched a unit to investigate whether people have been wrongfully convicted of crimes.

Nessel announced the Conviction Integrity Unit plans to probe credible claims of innocence. The unit within the AG's Criminal Appellate Division also seeks to develop efforts to rectify wrongful convictions.

A release says the unit is modeled after one in Wayne County, and officials will work with county prosecutors, law enforcement officials, defense attorneys and innocence clinic projects.

Lawmakers made it harder for Hoosiers to change the gender on their driver's license. A House panel revived gun regulation changes. And Attorney General Curtis Hill's law license is in jeopardy.

Here's what you might have missed this week at the Statehouse.