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| Jefferson County probate judge accused of misconduct |
By Morgan Hightower
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. — A
judge in Jefferson County who reportedly told her staff she was the
“ultimate authority” with “no boss” has been suspended following a
120-page complaint filed by the Judicial Inquiry Commission.
Probate
Judge Yashiba Blanchard is out of the courtroom indefinitely and
through this complaint, is formally accused of ethical and judicial
misconduct.
Judge Elisabeth French, the presiding judge in Jefferson County, appointed retired Probate Judge Sherri Friday
to serve temporarily in Blanchard’s place and appointed retired Judge
Carole Smitherman to temporarily serve as Chief Election Official for
Jefferson County.
The complaint lays
out dozens of allegations against Blanchard that claim she ran the
Probate Court in an incompetent and unprofessional manner, routinely
targeting attorneys and staff, and manufacturing a backlog that created havoc in involuntary commitments.
The commission charges Blanchard with
pattern and practice of failing to diligently discharge judicial duties,
pattern and practice of failing to follow the law, pattern and practice
of exhibiting bias against attorneys appearing in Blanchard’s court,
failure to disqualify from a case in which Blanchard served as an
attorney, harassment, intimidation, and retaliation against probate
court staff, allowing other court officials subject to Blanchard’s
direction and control to engage in harassment and intimidation of
probate court staff, and failure to maintain professional competence in
judicial administration.
Delays in involuntary commitment hearings
Blanchard
did not hear an involuntary commitment hearing until September, nine
months into her term, according to the complaint. She is accused of
frequently being late to court, imposing strict docket limits, canceling
hearings hours before they were supposed to begin, including one
involving a “respondent who was to be discharged from inpatient care and
sent home.”
In that case, the
hospital emailed Blanchard and her staff multiple times, requesting a
hearing to prevent “avoidable undue and emotional distress for the
patient.”
In one email, the hospital said, “With
the cancellation and the rescheduling of her hearing to December 2, this
patient will now remain hospitalized for an additional two weeks solely
due to the lack of timely access to the hearing process. This not only
prevents her from being home with her family for Thanksgiving, but it
also generates unnecessary hospitalization costs and creates avoidable
emotional distress for the patient and her loved ones. Beyond this
single case, the cancellation of the docket disrupts unit flow, delays
care for other patients needing admission which can pose a threat to
public safety and places our staff in untenable operational positions.
It is difficult to reconcile today’s action with our shared
responsibility to ensure patients receive timely due process and
appropriate, least-restrictive care. The sequence of events today
reflects a disregard for the rights of our patients, the time and safety
of their families, and the operational efficiency of the hospital.”
The complaint said Blanchard held a hearing after a third request that the patient was “lying in bed crying and upset.”
The
complaint further alleges court staff shifted cases to the other judge
to avoid due-process violations, that Blanchard held some probable-cause
hearings outside the statutory time window, and that she misrepresented
to Presiding Circuit Judge French that cancellations were rare and that
facilities received adequate notice.
Financial and emotional harm to families
Blanchard’s alleged failure to promptly
handle probate cases, including guardianship and estate matters, caused
financial and emotional harm to families involved.
The
complaint includes 24 examples of cases where hearings were canceled or
delayed and the people involved had to wait several months, or even a
year, for a resolution.
In one
example, an attorney reportedly responded to an email about a hearing
rescheduling with a plea. “Just hoping we do not have a continuance
because I am so worried that my client is going to die.”
Blanchard’s
staff responded, “Oh I completely understand. I have another case on
this docket in the same predicament…,” according to the complaint.
Special judge appointments sought
The
complaint alleges Blanchard repeatedly sought special probate judge
appointments, including a “blanket order” for an attorney to cover her
during conferences, while she was “in the office so she can get work
done,” and for the month of December so she could work on orders from
home.
The presiding judge responded that specific dates and reasons were required.
A
request in April 2026 was denied, according to the complaint, and the
denial letter was delivered to the attorney Blanchard requested as
special project judge while he was on the bench hearing cases that he
was not properly appointed to hear.
Allegations of attorney intimidation
The
complaint outlines an alleged pattern of intimidation by Blanchard
against attorneys, including filing improper orders and threatening
contempt when those orders were challenged, and filing an unsupported
State Bar complaint.
Blanchard is also
accused of filing a police report against two attorneys, that resulted
in their photographs being shared with courthouse security.
“That
same day, the presiding circuit judge met separately with Judge
Blanchard and representatives of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Judge Blanchard told the presiding circuit judge that she did not trust
Attorneys Britton or Hawley and did not want them in her courtroom.”
Staff reassignments and alleged retaliation
A
large portion of the complaint is dedicated to the alleged treatment of
probate staff by Blanchard, including the reassignment of employees
from Birmingham to Bessemer with little notice. Blanchard said the
additional staff in Bessemer was requested, however, it was not,
according to the complaint.
“Moving
staff to Bessemer made little sense from a logistical standpoint, and
Judge Blanchard was well aware of this. In an email that Judge Blanchard
sent to staff and to fellow judges on March 21, 2025, she said that the
“open cases Probate Court in the Birmingham Division totaled 742 as of
January 21, 2025,” while the “open cases in Probate Court in the
Bessemer Division totaled 172 as of January 21, 2025.” In other words,
there were more than four times the number of open cases in the
Birmingham Division versus the Bessemer Division.”
The
complaint said Blanchard was indifferent to staff who requested a
transfer back to Birmingham, including a woman who said the move added
40 minutes to her commute and made it more difficult for her spend time
with her sister who was dying of cancer.
Blanchard did not respond to her request, according to the complaint.
“Shortly
thereafter, the clerk’s sister died. The clerk was unable to make it to
the hospital in time to say goodbye because she was stuck in traffic
driving to the hospital from Bessemer.”
Allegations involving chief clerk
Blanchard
is accused of targeting Chief Clerk Amanda Reid. According to the
complaint, an employee was asked by Blanchard on her first day if she
like Reid. The employee said she did.
“Judge Blanchard then said, ‘Oh, I forgot you all like kissing white a--.’”
Blanchard
is accused of attempting to manufacture performance and insubordination
issues against Reid, moving her out of her office and limiting her
access to tools and files necessary to do her job.
The
complaint said Blanchard moved Reid’s desk to a cubicle in-front of her
bailiff, and retaliated against her for complying with a subpoena from
the Judicial Inquiry Commission.
In total, Blanchard faces seven charges for violating multiple provisions of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics.
This case will be presided over by the
Court of the Judiciary, a court of nine judges and attorneys, currently
led by Judge William Cole of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.
Proceedings before the Court of the Judiciary operate like a court
hearing. The Judicial Inquiry Commission will act as prosecutor in this
setting, making its case before the court. Blanchard will have the
opportunity to defend against the allegations in the complaint. The
Court of the Judiciary has the authority to remove a judge from office,
suspend without pay or censure judges for misconduct.
At the time of publication, Blanchard had not filed a formal response to the complaint.
Full Article & Source:
Jefferson County judge suspended, complaint says she called herself “ultimate authority”
