Jefferson County Elects First Black Female Judges to Probate Court in Alabama

By Barnett Wright and Sym Posey

The Birmingham Times

Democrats Yashiba “Red” Blanchard and Jameria Moore on Tuesday became the first Black female judges elected to Jefferson County Probate Court in Alabama.

Jefferson, Alabama’s most populous county, has never had an elected Black probate court judge male or female.

According to unofficial results from Tuesday’s election with 98 percent of the vote counted, Blanchard received 143,971 votes or 52.22 percent to defeat Republican John Amari who received 131,502 votes or 47.70 percent for the Probate Court Place 1 seat.

Moore received 145,125 votes or 52.74 percent to defeat Republican Joel Blankenship, 129,839 votes, or 47.19 in the race for Place 2 seat.

Voter turnout was 56.82 percent.

Probate courts have jurisdiction over matters dealing with wills, estates, real property, mental illness, and adoption.

“I’m so elated that the citizens of Jefferson County have put their trust in me to lead in this position,” said Blanchard from her Watch Party at Dread River Distillery on the Southside. “I had a magnificent team with God first, my family, my husband, my children. We put it all together and made it happen.”

Moore said she was also elated by the results. “I love the fact that this is an opportunity for us as women to serve and to show how we are qualified, and that we are ready to go into the Probate Court and be that voice and listen to our constituents, listen to those who came before us, make rulings that are just, make sure that people get their cases heard timely,” Moore said from her Watch Party at the Uptown Jazz Lounge in downtown Birmingham.

Blanchard, who has practiced at her firm, Glenn Blanchard and Associates, P.C., for nine years, specializes in veteran’s disability law, probate law, domestic relations and plaintiff’s litigation, and said the victory is more special because of where she’s from.

Blanchard, born and raised in Birmingham, is a graduate of Wenonah High School and Jefferson State Community College, with an Associate of Applied Sciences Degree. She also holds a degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in political science, and a master’s degree in public administration. She received her Juris Doctorate Degree from Birmingham School of Law and has been successfully defending cases at her law firm Glenn Blanchard and Associates, P.C.

“Coming from Birmingham City Schools, out of Jefferson County, with parents who originated from the Brickyard in Ensley, mother from Fountain Heights and Avondale and predominantly Black communities to Probate Court shows the sky is the limit,” she said. “Anything above that we can get it as well.”

Moore, a native of Birmingham and a graduate of West End High School, said she initially became an attorney because she wanted to be like (iconic TV lawyer) Perry Mason “and save everybody. However, as my career developed … and working with families, and trying to keep families together when they go through a loss of a loved one, that really started to touch my heart, and I recognized that the probate court is a court that can help keep families together.”

Each year, more than 600,000 people are served in some capacity by the Jefferson County Probate Court. Probate is considered by many as a family court to resolve or assist in matters such as settling the estate of a deceased loved one, legal name changes, adoptions, elections, marriage licenses, and the recording of land records.

Moore is a partner with a Birmingham based law firm, Sperling & Moore, PC. She has handled a wide array of cases from probate court to civil court and is a member of the Alabama State Bar, the Birmingham Bar Association, the Alabama Lawyers Association, and a registered mediator with the State of Alabama.

Blanchard and Moore will both be sworn in sometime in January.