A special prosecutor from Surry County has been appointed to argue the misdemeanor assault and battery case pending against Jennifer Boykin, according to her attorney, Fred Taylor.

Boykin, a member of Isle of Wight County’s Planning Commission, was charged in March with allegedly grabbing a Suffolk woman at a Republican Party meeting in a dispute over the method of selecting a GOP nominee for Virginia’s 17th Senate District.

General District Judge Helix Holland, in July, had ordered Boykin’s trial delayed indefinitely after Isle of Wight County Commonwealth’s Attorney Georgette Phillips recused her office and the alleged victim – former Suffolk GOP Chairwoman Dawn Jones – filed for “misdemeanor assistance.”

Jones had filed the criminal complaint against Boykin six days after the two attended a March 8 meeting of the 17th District’s city- and county-level GOP chairs, in which Jones alleged Boykin to have grabbed Jones’ arm and yelled at her as the two were leaving the Ruritan clubhouse in Walters, where the meeting was held.

Misdemeanor assistance allows the alleged victim of a misdemeanor crime to request the matter be prosecuted by a commonwealth’s attorney. According to Isle of Wight County’s website, its commonwealth’s attorney’s office, with few exceptions, involves its attorneys in the prosecution of misdemeanor cases only when a victim requests assistance.

According to the online docket for Isle of Wight County General District Court, Boykin’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 18.