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| Yashiba Blanchard asking for more time, access to office |
By Taylor Pollock
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - Attorneys representing suspended Jefferson County Probate Judge Yashiba Blanchard are asking the Alabama Court of the Judiciary for extended, daytime access to her courthouse office, alleging her records were removed from shelves and shoved into boxes without her knowledge.
According to a status report and motion filed Monday, Blanchard’s legal team is seeking an order granting eight to 10 hours during regular business hours to conduct a page-by-page review of documents needed for an ongoing review by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.
The filing details a Sept. 23 show cause hearing in which state examiners pressed Blanchard for information regarding the expenditure of more than $500,000 from the State Archival Fund. Blanchard’s attorneys stated they could not fully answer those demands because the supporting records remained inaccessible inside the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Blanchard and her counsel were previously granted after-hours access on the evening of Sept. 16 to gather responsive documents, expecting a review of 60 to 90 minutes. However, her defense attorneys wrote that upon entering, they discovered the office had been cleared out.
“Some unknown person or persons had emptied her shelves of their contents and placed virtually all of the contents of her office into twelve banker’s boxes that were located in a small storage room at the back of the office,” the motion states.
A letter sent to 10th Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Elisabeth French on Sept. 22, noted that office furniture had been replaced, family photos and plaques were taken off the walls, and files were packed away haphazardly with personal items. While the defense identified three documents responsive to the audit in one box, they argue that completing an unorganized review after hours would have kept personnel working past midnight.
The filing also raised concerns regarding the chain of custody and potential leaks, alleging that probate court employees adverse to Blanchard have had undocumented access to her office, and asserting that certain details previously reported in the media could have only originated from files stored in her room.
Attorneys said state examiners have agreed to grant Blanchard additional time to produce the records pending the Court of the Judiciary’s decision on her access request.
Full Article & Source:
Suspended Jefferson County probate judge requests daytime access to office, claims records were displaced amid state audit
See Also:
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