Hilliard Staton is a retired senior vice-president working within the securities industry. He has served on the Board of European Options Exchange, the Dutch Commodities Industry Association and served for fourteen years as a captain in the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office. Staton has been involved in the local community through the North Carolina School of the Arts Foundation, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and the Blue Ridge Community College Foundation. He lives in Hendersonville.