Court denies governor's motion to clarify AG Hill's role during suspension

The Indiana Supreme Court denied Governor Eric Holcomb's motion to intervene in the case against Attorney General Curtis Hill in order to clarify whether Hill's office is vacated during his 30 day suspension.

The court suspended Hill for 30 days with automatic reinstatement beginning May 18 for misconduct.

Following the decision on May 11, the governor filed an emergency motion to intervene to clarify if Hill's suspension means he is unable to fulfill the duties of his office and whether it creates a vacancy in the office that requires an appointment of a replacement.

The court denied Holcomb's motion because the issue was not addressed during the original case.

"These issues were not litigated by the parties and are extraneous to our disciplinary opinion, making intervention inappropriate."

In addition, the court says it shouldn't issue an advisory opinion or decide an issue if there is no case before them.