MARION -- A Wythe County juvenile court judge has pleaded guilty to charges of reckless driving and refusing a breath test stemming from a March 1 traffic stop on Interstate 81.

A driving under the influence charge against Michael Keith Blankenship, 44, was dropped as part of the plea agreement, but his driver's license was suspended for a year. His sentence also includes a $100 fine.

Blankenship's convictions yesterday could jeopardize his seat on the juvenile and domestic relations bench, which he assumed in 2005.

According to his attorney, Blankenship has been suspended with pay by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, an arm of the Supreme Court of Virginia charged with investigating judicial misconduct. The commission's procedures are confidential, and do not become public record unless it files a formal complaint with the state Supreme Court.

For a judge to commit any legal infraction violates the Canons of Judicial Conduct, the ethical standards to which judges are held accountable. Such a violation can be grounds for disciplinary action.

Blankenship has a separate charge of hit-and-run pending from an incident last month in Powhatan County -- the second scratch in two months on his previously blemish-free driving record.

-- Media General News Service