Jefferson County judge suspended, complaint says she called herself “ultimate authority”

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Judge accused of intimidation and retaliation is suspended from the bench.

[00:00:05]Jefferson County Probate Judge Yashiba Blanchard is suspended following a complaint by the Judicial Inquiry Commission, which is formally accusing her of ethical and judicial misconduct.

[00:00:16]It's a 120 page complaint with multiple allegations. In it, Judge Blanchard is accused of repeatedly failing to promptly handle cases leading to backlogs and is accused of intimidating certain attorneys and members of her staff and retaliating against them. We have broken down each of those allegations for you and this story on the WBRC News app. And we are also sharing what happens next and who will be filling in for Judge Blanchard. You can find that information right now online.