FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
February 18, 2011
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
Suzanne Webb (334) 242-7351
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AG STRANGE WELCOMES HART BACK TO AG OFFICE
TO FIGHT PUBLIC CORRUPTION AND WHITE COLLAR CRIME
(MONTGOMERY) -Attorney General Luther Strange said the return this week of
Matt Hart to the Attorney General’s Office marks another important step for his Public
Corruption and White Collar Crime Division. For the first six years of his legal career,
Hart worked for former Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor. Hart’s next nine
years involved a leadership role in fighting public corruption at the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Northern District of Alabama. Back at the Attorney General’s Office now,
Hart has been named as special prosecutor in the Public Corruption and White Collar
Crime Division.
“Matt Hart is a dedicated and tough prosecutor with an exceptional career of
bringing to justice government officials who betray the citizen’s trust by illegally
abusing their public positions,” said Attorney General Strange. “I am confident that he
will be a vital member of our public corruption team and I am excited about his
contribution to the strong foundation we are building to protect the integrity of
Alabama.”
In 1996, Miles Matthew Hart began working at the Attorney General’s Office as an
assistant attorney general in the Criminal Trials Division, moving the next year to the
Public Corruption and White Collar Crime Division that had been newly-created by
then-Attorney General Bill Pryor. Serving in this division until 2002, he participated in
the successful investigation and conviction of numerous corrupt officials and
contractors, as well as prosecuting judicial misconduct on behalf of the Judicial Inquiry
Commission.
During his tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Hart was director of the state and
federal Joint Public Corruption Task Force for the Northern District of Alabama from
2003 to 2009, achieving nationally-recognized success in the prosecution of corruption
at the highest levels of state government in Alabama. Hart conducted and supervised
the grand jury investigation and prosecution of corruption matters in the Alabama
Department of Postsecondary Education, leading to guilty pleas and trial convictions of
the former chancellor, several legislators, contractors and state employees. He
conducted special grand jury investigations that contributed to the conviction of county
commissioners in Jefferson County for activities related to sewer rehabilitation projects,
and conducted and supervised the special grand jury investigation and prosecution of a
501 Washington Avenue Montgomery, AL 36130 (334) 242-7300
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former Birmingham mayor and others related to projects financed by Jefferson County.
Serving as deputy criminal chief, and supervisor of the Public Corruption Section for
the U.S. Attorney’s Office from 2007 to 2009, Hart organized and implemented the U.S.
Attorney’s new corruption section. From 2009 until the present, he handled matters
related to immigration and gang enforcement.
Prior to his work as a prosecutor, Hart served as a special forces and intelligence
officer in the Alabama Army National Guard from 1980 to 2005. He graduated cum
laude from the University of Alabama and earned his juris doctorate from the
University of Alabama School of Law.
St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor, who represented the State of
Alabama in the joint task force, commented: “I am pleased to hear that Attorney
General Strange has hired Matt. His extraordinary record as a public corruption
prosecutor and his commitment to public service will serve the citizens of Alabama
well. As the former Director of the North Alabama Public Corruption Task Force,
Matt’s leadership led to the foundation for ethics reform. This hire reaffirms the
Attorney General’s pledge to root out public corruption at all levels of government in
our state.”
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