Judge Denies Delay in Ethics Trial
Suspended Jefferson County Probate Judge Yashiba Blanchard's request to push back her Dec. 7 trial was rejected by Chief Judge J. William Cole.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Criminal Justice
Chief Judge J. William Cole denied suspended Jefferson County Probate Judge Yashiba Blanchard's request to delay her trial 90 days, though he extended the discovery deadline from Nov. 20 to Dec. 2. The Judicial Inquiry Commission charges Blanchard with seven violations of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics; the charges are not criminal.
Why it matters
The ruling sets the schedule for an ethics proceeding that could determine the future of an elected Birmingham-area judge who has been suspended since May. Residents of Jefferson County, whose probate court is affected by the case, will see how the process balances the defense's need for preparation against the county's document obligations.
Blanchard's trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary is set for Dec. 7, and the Judicial Inquiry Commission's 120-page complaint charges seven ethics violations. The order does not explain its reasoning, and whether the 30 additional days the county's outside counsel says it needs will be granted remains unclear.
The players
Yashiba Blanchard
A suspended Jefferson County Probate Judge facing ethics charges that she has contested through her attorneys, who sought to delay her trial.
J. William Cole
The Alabama Chief Judge who denied Blanchard's delay request and extended the discovery deadline, without stating his reasoning in the order.
Judicial Inquiry Commission
The Alabama state body that investigates judicial conduct and filed the 120-page complaint charging Blanchard with seven ethics violations.
The details
Blanchard's attorneys argued the schedule leaves too little time to prepare a defense and cited a separate state audit requiring justification of more than $500,000 in expenditures. Jefferson County hired outside attorney Mark White to respond to subpoenas seeking roughly 40 gigabytes of emails from eight county employees.
Timeline
Sept. 18: Witness lists exchanged between the two sides.
Nov. 20: Original discovery and deposition deadline.
Nov. 27: Deadline to resolve the case before trial.
Dec. 2: Extended discovery and deposition deadline.
Dec. 7: Blanchard's trial before the Court of the Judiciary.
Legal Context
The seven charges are brought under the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics, the framework through which the state disciplines judges rather than through criminal prosecution. Because the charges are not criminal, the case proceeds before the Court of the Judiciary instead of a criminal court.
Residents who rely on Jefferson County probate court services may face continued uncertainty about leadership while the case is pending. The trial schedule determines how long the court's current status remains unsettled.
The takeaway
Ethics proceedings against judges operate on compressed schedules, and the timing of discovery can matter as much as the charges themselves. Readers following local court governance should watch the Dec. 2 and Dec. 7 dates.
What happens next
The Dec. 2 discovery deadline and the Dec. 7 trial date are the next scheduled moments in the case.
Further reading
For more on how such cases move through the courts, see Criminal Justice coverage in Birmingham.
