BILL NUMBER:S4135

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to
establishing a second county court judgeship in the county of Chenango

PURPOSE OF BILL:

Establishes a second office of judge of the county court in the county
of Chenango.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Subdivision 8 of section 182 of the judiciary law, as added
by chapter 699 of the laws of 1969, is amended to read as follows:

8. Chenango, one two;

§ 2. A new office of judge of the county court of the county of
Chenango is hereby established.

§ 3. See effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

Currently, a single judge presides over all Family, County (criminal
and civil), and Surrogate Courts for Chenango County. The caseload for
              

this Multi-Bench judge is tremendous. Rural areas are no longer immune
to the ravage of crime. The county has observed increases in burglary,
DWI offenses, drug use, domestic violence, and abuse, which have
created a large caseload that warrants the appointment of a second
judge. The caseload has made it increasingly difficult for the single
Multi-Bench judge to continue to process such a number of cases in a
timely and fair manner.

For the past several years, the Multi-Bench judge of Chenango County
has had more than double the typical caseload. The Family Court has
seen a tremendous increase in filings within the past decade. The
4,746 cases seen by the judge in 2006 were much higher than most
caseloads seen by judges who only handle Family Court. This has hurt
the timeliness of justice as it has forced the lead-time in Family
Court to grow from six weeks to eight to twelve weeks.

Additionally, the Multi-Bench judge of Chenango County has the highest
number of criminal cases in the small county category of New York.

Chenango County's need for this additional judgeship is crucial for
the justice system of the county. The need became so great that the
Cortland County's Multi-Bench judges came to the aid of Chenango
County back in 2006.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.


EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect January 1, 2016; provided, however, that
the additional office of county court judge created pursuant to this
act shall first be filled at the general election to be held on
November 3, 2015.