By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Friday, June 9, 2017, Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) on announced that State Representative Jim Hill (R-Odenville) will serve as chairman of the body’s Judiciary Committee for the remainder of the 2014 to 2018 quadrennium.
Speaker McCutcheon said, “Jim Hill had a two-decade career as a respected judge and has earned the reputation of being a distinguished legal scholar, so he possesses the ideal skill set for serving as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. In addition, Republican and Democrat House members alike know him to be an exceedingly fair-minded individual who is capable of impartially presiding over sometimes contentious debates, just as he did in the courtroom.”
Chairman Hill said, “The Judiciary Committee routinely deals with some of the most complex and important issues that come before the Alabama House, and I appreciate the trust that Speaker McCutcheon has placed in me.”
Prior to winning his seat in the Alabama House, Hill was an elected Judge in St. Clair County. Hill was elected as a district judge in 1994 and as circuit judge in 2004. After retiring from the bench in 2013, he joined the law firm of Hill, Hill & Gossett, P.C., where he currently works.
Hill said. “As a judge, and now as a State Representative, I have always treated everyone – regardless of their political persuasion, color, religious beliefs, or other factors – in the same fair and even-handed manner, and you will find me continuing that practice as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.”
The Chair of the Judiciary Committee was vacated when Rep. Mike Jones (R-Andalusia) accepted a roll as Rules Committee Chairman.
Hill had been Vice Chairman of the Judiciary Committee which was tasked with investigation possible impeachment proceeding against Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R). It was an enormous task, that was made even more difficult because no one alive could remember the last time that the Legislature had seriously considered impeaching a State official. Bentley resigned on the first day of the impeachment hearings.
Hill represents District 50, which covers St. Clair County. Hill was elected in 2014 without any opposition, Republican or Democratic.
Chairman Hill is a graduate of Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, Hill and his wife, Susan, have two grown children, James E. Hill III and Elizabeth Hill Cheney.
