Bill Text: NY A10139 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to the number of judges of the family court in certain counties.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 36-3)
Status: (Passed) 2014-06-26 - signed chap.44 [A10139 Detail]
Download: New_York-2013-A10139-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
10139
I N A S S E M B L Y
June 16, 2014
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Weinstein,
Rosenthal, Peoples-Stokes, Lupardo, Buchwald, Bronson, Jaffee,
O'Donnell, Brindisi, Santabarbara, Fahy, Weprin, Ramos, Pretlow,
Steck, Otis, Abinanti, Morelle, McDonald, Mayer, Schimel, Lavine,
Englebright, Thiele, Weisenberg, Ryan, Hooper, Solages, Paulin,
Hennessey, Barrett, Cahill, Glick, Goodell, Nolan, Palumbo, Saladino,
Sweeney) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to the number of judg-
es of the family court
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Section 121 of the family court act, as amended by chapter
2 209 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
3 S 121. Number of judges. The family court within the city of New York
4 shall consist of [forty-four judges and, as of July first, nineteen
5 hundred ninety, shall consist of forty-five judges and, as of April
6 first, nineteen hundred ninety-one, shall consist of forty-seven]
7 FIFTY-SIX judges, EFFECTIVE JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND FIFTEEN. [At
8 least one of the persons appointed to the office of judge of the family
9 court created by this section, shall be a resident of the county of
10 Richmond and hereafter there] THERE shall be at least one family court
11 judge resident in each county of the city of New York. [The amount of
12 compensation for such new family court judges shall be equal to the
13 compensation payable to existing family court judges in the city of New
14 York.]
15 S 2. Section 131 of the family court act is amended by adding a new
16 subdivision (u) to read as follows:
17 (U) THERE SHALL BE AN ADDITIONAL FAMILY COURT JUDGE FOR EACH OF THE
18 FOLLOWING COUNTIES: ALBANY, BROOME, CHAUTAUQUA, FRANKLIN, NASSAU, ONEI-
19 DA, OSWEGO, SCHENECTADY, SUFFOLK, ULSTER AND WESTCHESTER. THE COMPEN-
20 SATION OF EACH SUCH ADDITIONAL FAMILY COURT JUDGE SHALL BE THE SAME AS
21 THE COMPENSATION PAID TO EACH EXISTING FAMILY COURT JUDGE IN THE COUNTY
22 FOR WHICH IT IS ESTABLISHED OR, IF THERE IS NO SEPARATELY-ELECTED FAMILY
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15483-07-4
A. 10139 2
1 COURT JUDGE IN SUCH COUNTY, THE SAME AS THE COMPENSATION PAID TO A JUDGE
2 OF THE COUNTY COURT IN SUCH COUNTY.
3 S 3. Section 131 of the family court act is amended by adding a new
4 subdivision (v) to read as follows:
5 (V) THERE SHALL BE AN ADDITIONAL FAMILY COURT JUDGE FOR EACH OF THE
6 FOLLOWING COUNTIES: DELAWARE, DUTCHESS, ERIE, MONROE, AND WARREN. THE
7 COMPENSATION OF EACH SUCH ADDITIONAL FAMILY COURT JUDGE SHALL BE THE
8 SAME AS THE COMPENSATION PAID TO EACH EXISTING FAMILY COURT JUDGE IN THE
9 COUNTY FOR WHICH IT IS ESTABLISHED OR, IF THERE IS NO SEPARATELY-ELECTED
10 FAMILY COURT JUDGE IN SUCH COUNTY, THE SAME AS THE COMPENSATION PAID TO
11 A JUDGE OF THE COUNTY COURT IN SUCH COUNTY.
12 S 4. Notwithstanding provisions of the election law related to desig-
13 nating petitions, the following rules shall apply to designating
14 petitions filed in 2014 for the offices created by section two of this
15 act:
16 1. A designating petition for the offices created under this act shall
17 be filed not earlier than the eighth Monday before and not later than
18 the seventh Thursday preceding the primary election.
19 2. A signature made earlier than thirteen days before the last day to
20 file the designating petitions for the offices created under this act
21 for the primary election shall not be counted.
22 3. Petitions must be signed by not less than one and three-quarter per
23 centum, as determined by the preceding enrollment, of the then enrolled
24 voters of the party residing within the county of the family court posi-
25 tion created by this act (excluding voters in inactive status),
26 provided, however, that the number of signatures need not exceed the
27 following limits:
28 (a) For the offices to be filled by all the voters of counties
29 containing more than two hundred fifty thousand inhabitants according to
30 the last preceding federal enumeration, seven hundred signatures,
31 (b) For the offices to be filled by all of the voters of counties
32 containing more than twenty-five thousand and not more than two hundred
33 fifty thousand inhabitants, according to the last preceding federal
34 enumeration, three hundred fifty signatures,
35 (c) For the offices to be filled by all the voters for any other coun-
36 ty, one hundred seventy-five signatures.
37 4. All other rules related to designating petitions in the election
38 law, not inconsistent with these provisions shall apply to such desig-
39 nating petitions.
40 S 5. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
41 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by a court of compe-
42 tent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair
43 or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its opera-
44 tion to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part
45 thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment
46 shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the
47 legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such invalid
48 provisions had not been included herein.
49 S 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
50 the additional family court judges provided for by section two of this
51 act shall first be elected at the general election to be held in Novem-
52 ber 2014 and shall first take office January 1, 2015; provided, further,
53 that the additional family court judges provided for by section three of
54 this act shall first be elected at the general election to be held in
55 November 2015 and shall first take office January 1, 2016.
