Bill Text: NY A01358 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to requiring certain town and village justices be admitted to practice law in the state; requires town and village justices in a town or village with a high arraignment volume be admitted to practice law in New York state for at least five years as of the date they commence the duties of office; provides the determination of a town or village with a high arraignment volume shall be made by the office of court administration in consultation with the division of criminal justice services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-13 - print number 1358c [A01358 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A01358-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1358--C 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 17, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Judi- ciary in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the uniform justice court act, the town law and the village law, in relation to requiring certain town and village justices be admitted to practice law in the state The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 105 of the uniform justice court act is amended by 2 adding a new subdivision (a-1) to read as follows: 3 (a-1) Education. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the 4 contrary, no person may serve as a town or village justice in a town or 5 village with a high arraignment volume unless they are an attorney 6 admitted to practice law in this state for at least five years as of the 7 date they commence the duties of office. For the purposes of this subdi- 8 vision, "town or village with a high arraignment volume" shall mean the 9 one hundred highest arraignment volumes in town and village courts in 10 the state as determined by the office of court administration in consul- 11 tation with the division of criminal justice services. The initial 12 determination shall be based on the sum of arraignments from two thou- 13 sand eighteen and two thousand nineteen. Subsequent determinations 14 shall take place every ten years thereafter and shall use the sum of at 15 least two years' data. Any change in the requirements for eligibility to 16 serve as a town or village justice in such town or village shall take 17 effect upon commencement of the next judicial term of office following 18 the designation as a town or village with a high arraignment volume. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01887-07-4A. 1358--C 2 1 Notwithstanding the foregoing, non-attorney justices in office as of the 2 effective date of this subdivision shall remain eligible to serve as a 3 justice for the court on which they currently sit. 4 § 2. Section 31 of the town law is amended by adding a new subdivision 5 2-a to read as follows: 6 2-a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no 7 person may serve as a town justice in a town with a high arraignment 8 volume, as determined pursuant to subdivision (a-1) of section one 9 hundred five of the uniform justice court act, unless they are an attor- 10 ney admitted to practice law in this state for at least five years as of 11 the date they commence the duties of office. Any change in the require- 12 ments for eligibility to serve as a town justice in such town shall take 13 effect upon commencement of the next judicial term of office following 14 the designation as a town with a high arraignment volume. Notwithstand- 15 ing the foregoing, non-attorney justices in office as of the effective 16 date of this subdivision shall remain eligible to serve as a justice for 17 the court on which they currently sit. 18 § 3. Section 3-301 of the village law is amended by adding a new 19 subdivision 6 to read as follows: 20 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no 21 person may serve as a village justice in a village with a high arraign- 22 ment volume, as determined pursuant to subdivision (a-1) of section one 23 hundred five of the uniform justice court act, unless they are an attor- 24 ney admitted to practice law in this state for at least five years as of 25 the date they commence the duties of office. Any change in the require- 26 ments for eligibility to serve as a village justice in such village 27 shall take effect upon commencement of the next judicial term of office 28 following the designation as a village with a high arraignment volume. 29 Notwithstanding the foregoing, non-attorney justices in office as of the 30 effective date of this subdivision shall remain eligible to serve as a 31 justice for the court on which they currently sit. 32 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 33 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
