James Michael Hardaway, former assistant director of the Limestone County Community Corrections Program, has been convicted of one ethics violation and one count of custodial sexual misconduct, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced.

“No one is above the law, especially those who are in positions of authority,” Marshall said. “Our community corrections programs are an important part of our criminal justice system and must be administered by individuals who are committed to the good of those within their care.”

Hardaway retired from the department in 2019.

In 2020, he was charged with three counts of custodial sexual misconduct by engaging in sexual conduct with three different victims who were in the custody of the Limestone County Community Corrections program while he was an officer of that program; and three counts of using his position as a public employee of the Limestone County Community Corrections program to solicit or receive sexual services from these three victims.

Hardaway was sentenced to 20 years, split to serve two years in the Alabama Department of Corrections. Upon being released, he must register as a sex offender and adhere to all necessary requirements mandated by Alabama’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Marshall credited Assistant Attorneys General Jillian Jordan Evans and Chris Moore and the Investigations Unit of Attorney General’s Investigations Division for the arrest and conviction.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.