Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Blacksburg lawyer tapped to be a judge
A Blacksburg lawyer and substitute judge has been selected to fill a vacancy for a juvenile and domestic relations court judge in the New River Valley.
The circuit court judges of the 27th judicial circuit selected Harriet Dorsey to fill the interim position and she agreed, Circuit Court Judge Bobby Turk said Tuesday. An order officially appointing Dorsey has not yet been entered, he said.
Dorsey’s appointment will begin June 1 and will last through the end of the year.
Next year, the General Assembly will attempt to appoint someone to a full six-year term.
Judgeships are typically decided in the House and Senate, but if legislators can’t agree on a person, the circuit judges together make an appointment.
The 27th judicial circuit includes the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe and the cities of Radford and Galax.
Dorsey is one of several substitute judges who have heard cases, primarily in Wythe County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, since former Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Michael Keith Blankenship went on leave last year following legal troubles and then resigned.
Dorsey has been a substitute judge in the juvenile and domestic relations court and the general district court for 20 years as well as an administrative hearing officer for the Supreme Court of Virginia.
— Shawna Morrison
The circuit court judges of the 27th judicial circuit selected Harriet Dorsey to fill the interim position and she agreed, Circuit Court Judge Bobby Turk said Tuesday. An order officially appointing Dorsey has not yet been entered, he said.
Dorsey’s appointment will begin June 1 and will last through the end of the year.
Next year, the General Assembly will attempt to appoint someone to a full six-year term.
Judgeships are typically decided in the House and Senate, but if legislators can’t agree on a person, the circuit judges together make an appointment.
The 27th judicial circuit includes the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe and the cities of Radford and Galax.
Dorsey is one of several substitute judges who have heard cases, primarily in Wythe County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, since former Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Michael Keith Blankenship went on leave last year following legal troubles and then resigned.
Dorsey has been a substitute judge in the juvenile and domestic relations court and the general district court for 20 years as well as an administrative hearing officer for the Supreme Court of Virginia.
— Shawna Morrison
