CHARLESTON – The state Supreme Court has suspended a former Boone County Prosecuting Attorney for three years following numerous violations of the code of professional conduct, including hiring her boyfriend to be an assistant prosecutor.
The court issued its decision November 13 against Donna E. Taylor, who was elected as Boone County’s first Republican and first female prosecutor in 2020. Soon after, one of the office’s two assistant prosecutors – Jennifer Anderson – resigned. At a December 2020 meeting of the Boone County Commission, Taylor asked to post the position with an annual salary of $80,000. She then hired boyfriend Branden Ledford for the job. Timothy Gibson, the other assistant, notified the state Ethics Commission about the situation.
In March 2021, the Ethics Commission ruled Ledford had an unfair advantage and ordered Taylor to terminate his employment. The next day, Gibson told Taylor she should resign based on the ruling. He also sent a letter to the county commission saying she should resign or be impeached.
Taylor then fired Gibson the same day, and Ledford’s employment ended March 15, 2021.
In March 2023, Taylor was charged by the state Lawyer Disciplinary Board for multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct. In addition to the hiring of Ledford, Taylor was accused of failing to prepare at least 98 orders from abuse and neglect cases and juvenile cases, failing to file 83 releases of judgment after payments were made in full, filing insufficient indictments and being unprepared for trials. It also cited “a general lack of familiarity with the case and a general lack of preparedness.”
Following a three-day evidentiary hearing, the Hearing Panel Subcommittee of the LDB issued a 53-page report recommending an 18-month suspension and other discipline.
Taylor resigned May 31, 2023, citing a “hostile work environment.” She also was facing impeachment proceedings from the Boone County Commission.
“The respondent hereby denies all other allegations not enumerated and respectfully requests this court dismiss this petition,” Taylor said in her answer to the LDB’s charges.
The HPS determined the ODC had proven four of the charges against Taylor, according to the November 13 memorandum decision. So, the HPS recommended the count regarding the timely preparation of abstracts of judgments and releases of judgment be dismissed on procedural grounds. It also made the recommendation for the 18-month suspension.
The ODC objected to the HPS recommendation and requested the three-year suspension be imposed. It also challenged the dismissal of the third count by the HPS. Taylor asked for all charges to be dismissed.
In reviewing the matter, the Supreme Court agreed with the ODC about the third count, saying the ODC “proved by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Taylor failed to file abstracts of judgment and releases of judgment in violation of her clear statutory duty” and violated the state Rules of Professional Conduct.
Regarding the length of the suspension, the justices say Taylor violated a duty owed to a client, to the public, to the legal system or to the profession. The justices also say she acted knowingly and caused “significant” injury by her conduct, and they go on to cite aggravating and mitigating factors.
“Taylor exhibited a pattern and practice … relating to competence, diligence and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice,” the Supreme Court decision states. “Taylor has not taken full responsibility for the wrongful nature of her misconduct and has, instead, blamed others for the situations she created or exacerbated.”
The Supreme Court says the three-year suspension is comparable to discipline it has imposed for similar misconduct.
“Accordingly, we reject the HPS’s recommended period of suspension, and we instead order that Ms. Taylor be suspended from the practice of law in West Virginia for three years for her numerous violations of the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct across multiple cases,” the decision states.
It also says Taylor, upon reinstatement, must be supervised for 18 months by an attorney jointly selected by her and the ODC to improve the quality and effectiveness of her law practice. It also says she must pay the costs of the proceedings.
Taylor was admitted to the State Bar in 2017. She previously worked as an assistant prosecutor in Wood County and Kanawha County. She took office in Boone County on December 21, 2020.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number 23-133