Local judge in trouble with State Police again

  A local judge is in trouble with the State Police for the second time in two months.

  State police issued a warrant May 2nd charging Juvenile and Domestic Relations court judge Keith Blankenship with misdeamnor hit and run.

  Blankenship is the presiding judge over Juvenile and Domestic Relations court in Carroll County, Grayson County, and Galax city.

  State police charged Blankenship with driving under the influence and refusing to submit to a breathlyzer test on March 1st on Interstate 81 in Smyth County.

  State police say around 5:15 PM on April 27th in Powhatan County, Blankenship was traveling north on Huguenot Springs Road when he ran off the right side of the road and hit a telephone line box.

  Police say Blankenship’s car then did “substantial” damage to an adjacent yard before getting back on the roadway and then running off the light side of the road.

  Police say the vehicle went up an embankment and uprooted a tree before leaving the scene of the accident.

  State police later found Blankenship in a Chesterfield County hotel, according to Virginia State Police public relations manager Corinne Geller.

  Blankenship was scheduled to be on the bench Monday in Carroll County but was “off” according to a deputy clerk in Wythe County.

  Carroll County juvenile and domestic relations court clerk Barbara Hamm said she had been given “no reason” why Blankenship missed court.

  She said she was told to find a replacement judge.

  Grayson County juvenile and domestic relations court clerk Liz Holdaway said she had also been advised Blankenship would not be presiding over her court on Tuesday.

  Holdaway said she would also have to find a replacement judge.

  A spokeswoman for the Virginia Supreme Court said she had “no information” on Blankenship’s status.

  Blankenship is the former commonwealth’s attorney in Wythe County.

  The judge is due in court for a hearing on the DUI and refusal charges in Smyth County on May 20th.

  No court date has been set for the Powhatan County hit and run charge.