Berkeley County Magistrate Dorothy “Dottie” Yost
CHARLESTON – A Berkeley County magistrate has been suspended without pay and prohibited from hearing any cases after she was accused of reporting a false emergency incident.
Earlier this month, Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Adam Boothby filed the criminal complaint against Dorothy “Dottie” Yost, 48, of Bunker Hill.
In the complaint, Boothby says he was contacted by Corporal Philip Butcher regarding an incident at the Berkeley County Judicial Center and was told Corporal Gary Harmison had investigated a reported battery by inmate Mark Travis Barrett against Yost during an arraignment at Eastern Regional Jail. The report said Yost had told Deputy Tyler Turner that Barrett had grabbed her wrist.
“She advised that when she was grabbed, she had to pull away,” the criminal complaint states. “Dorothy Yost demonstrated to Deputy Turner the force in which she pulled her hand back. She additionally advised that the inmate had become agitated and raised his fist into the air, which she also demonstrated to Deputy Turner pulling her fist back in a fighting stance.
“She additionally told Deputy Turner that the CO (correctional officer) told the inmate that he would be put to the ground if he kept it up.”
Boothby says he reviewed video footage from the jail that “did not match the statement.”
“The video evidence did not show any instances of impending violence or acts of violence, nor does Dorothy Yost show any physical signs of fear toward Mark Barrett, such as attempting to back away or asking for assistance from correctional officers who are within a couple feet of her,” the March 12 criminal complaint states. “None of the correctional officers advised that there was a battery or circumstance involving Mark Barrett’s arraignment that would warrant the use of force or fear of physical safety.
“Based on the statements obtained and the video footage reviewed, Dorothy Yost’s complaint of battery by Mark Barrett appears fabricated/false.”
The Judicial Disciplinary Counsel filed its complaint March 13 against Yost with the state Judicial Investigation Commission as well as its motion to suspend Yost without pay with the state Supreme Court citing Rule 2.14 of the Rules of Judicial Disciplinary Procedure. The JIC began an immediate investigation that is ongoing.
The motion to suspend cites a 2016 case in which the Supreme Court held that a magistrate candidate was ineligible to hold office because he was convicted of the misdemeanor offense of reporting a false emergency “since it was a crime of moral turpitude.”
The JIC motion lists seven Codes of Judicial Conduct Yost allegedly violated, including compliance with the law (1.1), confidence in the judiciary (1.2), avoiding abuse of the prestige of judicial office (1.3), impartiality and fairness (2.2), bias, prejudice and harassment (2.3), external influences on judicial conduct (2.4) and competence, diligence and cooperation (2.5).
“There is probable cause to believe that respondent has engaged in a serious misdemeanor violation as well as violations of rules … of the Code of Judicial Conduct,” the motion states.
The motion also recommends Yost be suspended without pay while the case is pending “because of the serious nature of the charge, the fact that the alleged acts occurred while respondent was at work as a magistrate and to ensure the public’s continued faith in the integrity, independence and impartiality of the judicial system in West Virginia.”
The Supreme Court issued its order March 19 suspending Yost without pay and barring her from hearing any cases.
A Berkeley County native, Yost was elected magistrate for the county’s District 7 in 2024 to a four-year term. Before that, she worked for private attorneys, the Public Defender’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a legal assistant. She also was a patient advocate at both Berkeley Medical Center and Jefferson Medical Center.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number 26-131 (Judicial Investigation Commission complaint 51-2026)
