Kanawha County Magistrate Suspended

{Charleston, West Virginia}...Kanawha County Magistrate Carol Fouty has been suspended without pay. The West Virginia State Supreme Court of Appeals filed an order Monday stating there is probable cause to believe Magistrate Fouty has engaged, or is currently engaged, in a serious violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct. The Court also noted that Fouty received a written admonishment in December, 2011, for violating the code. Court administrator Steve Canterbury says if Fouty wants a hearing on her suspension, she must ask for it within 30 days. Canterbury says he filed the complaint after Melea Dawn Fisher, the woman who cleans for Fouty, was arrested after driving her car while on drugs. Fouty had recently dismissed a drug charge against Fisher and hired her. Fouty later came under fire after releasing a Nitro man charged with drugged driving on a personal recognizance bond without a sober driver present. She allegedly told him he could drive. The man, who was allegedly still impaired, got back in his car and was arrested again by the same officer. The Supreme Court has remanded the case against Fouty to the Judicial Investigation Commission for the filing of formal charges.