Jefferson County Presiding Probate Court Judge Yashiba Glenn Blanchard was suspended Thursday, and retired Judge Sherri Friday has been appointed to fill in as a special probate judge for the county.

“This temporary assignment is necessary for the orderly administration of justice,” a court filing issued by Presiding Circuit Court Judge Elisabeth A. French reads. The appointment confers on Friday all powers, authority and jurisdiction of the judgeship to which she is appointed.

The Judicial Inquiry Commission sent a 120-page complaint to the Court of the Judiciary in which it makes a series of allegations. It alleges Blanchard was slow to hold probable cause hearings in commitment cases and other matters that slowed the court’s docket. It also alleges she abused her position by showing bias and intimidating against certain attorneys in her court.

“In essence, Judge Blanchard’s failure to promptly dispose of the business of this court has created a disservice to the citizens of Jefferson County as citizens are unable to receive the services that only the Probate Court can provide and are seeking court services elsewhere,” the complaint states.

Friday retired in December 2024 from the probate court seat she had held since 2006.

Blanchard was elected to the court in November 2024.

Retired Judge Carole Smitherman has been appointed to serve temporarily in Blanchard’s role as the county’s chief election official.

The JIC complaint levels seven “charges” against Blanchard: 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 lawyers appearing in her court; failure to disqualify herself in a case in which she also had served as attorney; harassment, intimidation and retaliation against probate court staff; allowing other court officials subject to her control to harass and intimidate staff; and failure to maintain judicial competence in judicial administration.

One of the primary foundations of the complaint is about Blanchard’s handling of commitment and estate cases.

The complaint alleges that when Blanchard first took office, she initially was not hearing commitment cases, and all of the cases were sent to the other probate judge. The following September, she began hearing cases and directed that the cases be split evenly between herself and the other judge, but then she limited the number of cases that could be scheduled in her court. Some staff worked around her directions to get cases heard, and the presiding Circuit Court judge met with her in December about complaints that had come in from health care officials, patients and security about delayed cases.

Delays in commitment cases are part of a pattern that has slowed the handling of probate cases before the court, by a year in at least one estate, the JIC complaint states, citing more than 20 examples. Probate court staff report repeated complaints from lawyers and parties involved about delays in Blanchard’s court, the complaint states.

The complaint also includes allegations that Blanchard frequently and inappropriately asked for special probate judges to be assigned to help with her court calendar. In some cases those requests were approved and in others they were not, according to the complaint.

It includes a response Blanchard wrote to a draft of the complaint in which she said her attempts to reduce the backlog of cases have been frustrated by denials of her requests for special judges to be appointed.

The complaint also alleges Blanchard improperly removed more than 140 cases from two attorneys who had been appointed to handle conservatorship cases and ultimately found one of the lawyers in contempt of court without proper notification.

Blanchard also filed a complaint against that lawyer, Ripon Britton Jr., with the Alabama State Bar accusing him of “deliberate(ly) attempt(ing) to foster an atmosphere of intimidation harassment, undermining (her) authority and the integrity of the court,” as well as “encouraging clerks, judges and others  to defy administrative rules and general court policies.” Her complaint accused Britton of being part of a group of lawyers “participating in a malicious campaign” to “maker (her) look incompetent and incapable of doing (her) job.

The Bar decided to take no action on her complaint.

Blanchard ordered that forensic accounting be done on cases being turned over by Britton and lawyer Gregory Hawley, with costs being covered by the estates, though most of those cases were excused from that order.

About the same time, she filed a police report saying she felt intimidated in a third-party communication between Britton and another lawyer, and she had photos of Britton and Hawley posted with security at the courthouse along with orders they not be allowed in. The lawyers have filed 92 motions to recuse themselves from cases before the court, but Blanchard has not ruled on them, according to the JIC complaint.

Staff Harassment

The JIC complaint also alleges Blanchard has shown a pattern of bullying staff members she perceived as having slighted her. Among those instance were transfers of Probate Court employees from the understaffed Birmingham office to the Bessemer office, which the complaint says could be called overstaffed.

This included Amanda Reid, chief clerk of the Birmingham Division. The county manager and county attorney objected, saying the transfers violate merit system policies, which has left the employees caught between opposing directions from two authorities.

The JIC complaint further alleges that, earlier in the year, Blanchard called a meeting of all Birmingham staff in which she warned them that if anyone filed a complaint about her to the Human Resources Department, the judge would consider that insubordination and punish them accordingly.

The JIC complaint states that Blanchard’s “failure to maintain competence in administrative duties” has caused confusion at the courthouse. Often staff cannot find files that are needed for court cases, the complaint alleges. It also cites an incident earlier this year when the judge declared Probate Courts closed because of bad weather, while Jefferson County officials had declared the courthouse would be open.