Former Limestone County corrections officer pleads guilty on sex charges, ethics violations

By William Thornton 

James Michael Hardaway, 64, of Athens.

The former assistant director of Limestone County’s Community Corrections Program has pleaded guilty to an ethics violation and custodial sexual misconduct.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the plea today for James Michael Hardaway, 64, of Athens.

“No one is above the law, especially those who are in positions of authority,” Marshall said in a statement. “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 was arrested in October 2020 on charges of 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 soliciting sexual services from the same three victims, according to an announcement at the time.

Marshall commended Assistant Attorneys General Jillian Jordan Evans and Chris Moore, as well as the Investigations Unit of Attorney General’s Investigations Division, for their work on the case.