NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8177
SPONSOR: Skartados TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the uniform justice court act, in relation to justices
presiding in an off-hours arraignment part
This measure is being introduced at the request of the Chief Administra-
tive Judge.
This measure would amend the Uniform Justice Court Act to correct an
oversight in chapter 492 of the Laws of 2016, which authorized the
establishment of off-hours arraignment parts. This measure would permit
Town and Village Justices to hold their courts outside their respective
towns and villages for the limited purpose of presiding over an off-
hours arraignment part established in another municipality located in
the same county.
Chapter 492 was enacted to help ensure that criminal defendants can be
represented by counsel at arraignment. It does this by authorizing
creation of special, off-hours arraignment parts in local criminal
courts, parts that can be established in a few central locations.
Because law enforcement is authorized to bring a criminal defendant to
the off-hours part in a county regardless of where in that county that
defendant was arrested, the availability of these off-hours parts, which
are solely for the purpose of conducting arraignments and preliminary
proceedings incidental to them, and presiding over returns on arrest
warrants, should make it easier for the limited number of lawyers avail-
able in many communities - especially upstate - to meet the represen-
tation needs of those defendants in those communities.
As enacted, the statute was intended to permit use of all the local
judges in a county including City Court Judges and Town and Village
Justices - to serve in an off-hours part for that county established in
one of the county's local criminal courts on a rotating basis. At the
time of enactment, it was believed that this could be done by using the
provisions of the Uniform Justice Court Act (§ 106) and the Uniform City
Court Act (§ 107) to temporarily assign judges and justices from courts
outside the court in which an off-hours part had been established to
serve on such court in such part. We have discovered, however, that,
under circumstances where it is useful to establish an off-hours part in
a City Court, Town and Village Justices are eligible for temporary
assignment to that part only where they are lawyers admitted to practice
in New York for at least five years. See UCCA § 107 ("The chief adminis-
trator of the courts may temporarily assign any judge or justice of a
city, town or village court to a city court . . .; provided, however, no
town or village justice may be temporarily assigned hereunder unless he
or she is an attorney admitted to practice law in this state for at
least five years."). In view of the fact that, particularly north of the
Hudson Valley, many if not most of the State's Town and Village Justices
are non-lawyers, this is a considerable obstacle to a critical objective
in chapter 492 - which is that, where an off-hours part is established
in a county, all of the local criminal court judicial officers in that
county should take tours of duty presiding over that part regardless of
where in the county it has been established.
This measure would eliminate this obstacle. It would do so by obviating
the need for a temporary assignment of a lay Town or Village Justice to
another municipality, to enable him or her to preside over an off-hours
part established in that municipality. It provides the alternative
whereby, rather than being temporarily assigned to another court, such a
Justice could hold his or her own court in the municipality where the
off-hours part is established. In such fashion, where that municipality
is a city, there will be no requirement that the Justice be a lawyer
because he or she will not thereby be sitting in a City Court.
There is longstanding precedent for allowing a Town or Village Justice
to hold his or her court outside the municipal boundaries of his or her
town or village. See UJCA §§ 106(3)-(10) (and especially §§ 106(6), (8)
end (9), permitting any Town or Village Justice of a local criminal
court in Onondaga, Jefferson and Rockland Counties, respectively, to
hold his or her own court anywhere in such County for the purpose of
conducting arraignments and appearance proceedings pursuant to a bench
warrant.
This measure would not disturb the Chief Administrative Judge's authori-
ty to temporarily assign a Town or Village Justice to another Town or
Village Court to preside over an off-hours part. It simply provides an
alternative means by which a non-lawyer Justice may preside over such a
part where it is established in a city, thereby facilitating the ability
to establish off-hours arraignment parts in every jurisdiction within a
county. Moreover, it clarifies that, under such circumstances, the
affected Justice may only conduct arraignments and other preliminary
proceedings incidental thereto, and preside over arrest warrant returns.
This measure, which would hive no fiscal impact, would take effect imme-
diately.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None. New proposal.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8177
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 1, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SKARTADOS, LENTOL -- (at request of the Office of
Court Administration) -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Codes
AN ACT to amend the uniform justice court act, in relation to justices
presiding in an off-hours arraignment part
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 106 of the uniform justice court act is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 11 to read as follows:
3 11. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section,
4 a justice of a local criminal court in which an off-hours arraignment
5 part has been established in accordance with paragraph (w) of subdivi-
6 sion one of section two hundred twelve of the judiciary law may preside
7 as the justice of his or her court anywhere in the county in which such
8 local criminal court is located for the limited purpose of presiding in
9 such off-hours arraignment part and conducting only the proceedings
10 specified in paragraph (w) of subdivision one of section two hundred
11 twelve of the judiciary law.
12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11921-01-7
