Documents

memo 1 page

Also attached to this agenda item: Court Consolidation Memo - December 31st%2C 2021 Local Law Introductory 3 of 2022 Res 16-2022 Schedule PH LLI 3-2022

To: Mayor & Board of Trustees From: Date: February 10, 2022 Re: Justice Court Consolidation As the Board is aware, the Village has been investigating the consolidation of the Village Justice Court into the Town of Cortlandt Justice Court. A meeting was held between the Village and Town officials on January 25, 2022, to discuss how such a consolidation would work and what the effects of such a consolidation would be on the Village and Town. Based on this conversation, Village Attorney Linda Whitehead has drafted a local law for the Board’s consideration that would dissolve the position of Village Justice and update the Code in certain sections to reflect the fact that there would no longer be a Village Justice Court. The Town will be providing the Village a draft memorandum of understanding that would reflect our mutual agreement on staffing, the handling of Village cases and the frequency of court sessions to be held in the Municipal Building. I have been informed that the Cortlandt Town Board briefly discussed this issue at their February 7 board work session and are working to determine how to best proceed. As previously discussed in my memo on January 4, 2022, the savings that the Village would see from such a move would not be insignificant. The expenses of the Village Justice Court in this budget year totaled $363,270. The Village would lose some of the revenue (approximately 29%) it currently takes in from speeding and other moving violations, as well as misdemeanors and felonies, but would still keep any revenue earned from parking tickets and other Village Code violations (approximately 71%). Finally, Assistant to the Village Manager Thomas Morzello has analyzed the dockets from November 2021 to January 2022 to determine how many Village residents were served by the court during the period and came up with a total of 338 individuals with 521 charges. These charges include criminal, traffic, landlord-tenant and small claims. 75 of these individuals were Village residents; this equals 22% of the total population served during these three months. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the above. Thank you. Mayor Brian Pugh Trustees Ann Gallelli Sherry Horowitz Alejandro Rosales Len Simon Village Manager Bryan T. Healy Treasurer Daniel Tucker Village Clerk Pauline DiSanto Village of Croton-on-Hudson New York Stanley H. Kellerhouse Municipal Building One Van Wyck Street Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520-2501