Hancock County’s probate judge turned himself Tuesday morning on an arrest warrant after he failed to appear in a Belfast court for a hearing on overdue child support he owed his ex-wife.
He posted $16,929.50 bail — the amount of child support he owed — and was released later in the day from Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth.
An arrest warrant for William B. Blaisdell IV was issued last week after he failed to appear at a Belfast District Court hearing on March 12 over the unpaid child support payments.
Blaisdell, who remains the county’s elected probate judge although he has been suspended from practicing law or serving on the bench, has faced multiple contempt orders for not staying up to date on his court-mandated child support payments.
As a part-time probate judge, Blaisdell also practiced as a private lawyer, though he currently is not allowed to do so since the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar ordered his suspension just under a year ago.
Nine days after the Board issued that suspension, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court suspended Blaisdell from presiding over the bench for the second time in less than a year.
During Blaisdell’s suspension, an inter-county arrangement has allowed probate judges from neighboring counties to adjudicate Hancock County’s probate matters. Probate cases are shielded from public view and can involve adoptions, name changes, guardianships and wills.
Since his 2019 divorce, Blaisdell has been held in contempt of court at least three times and has fallen behind on more than $67,000 in timely child support payments to his ex-wife. His post-divorce proceedings have been held in Waldo County because of the judge’s position in Hancock County.
Blaisdell did not immediately respond to inquiries Tuesday afternoon from the Bangor Daily News.
His term on the bench is due to expire at the end of the year. Blaisdell, a Republican, did not meet Monday’s deadline to run in his party primary in June for the GOP nomination to retain his seat.
Former district attorney Matthew Foster, who lost his 2022 re-election bid after he lied during a candidate’s forum about having been investigated by the state attorney general’s office, is the only person to file candidacy papers to run for the county probate judge position.
Foster was investigated by the state officials in 2017 and 2018 over allegations that he inappropriately touched a 13-year-old child who was living with him at the time. Foster has denied the allegations, and later said he answered “no” to the candidates’ forum question because he is not supposed to confirm or comment on AG’s office investigations.
Foster on Monday declined to speak with a BDN reporter who called him to ask about his candidacy for the probate judge seat.