N.Y. Uniform Justice Court Act § 106-a: Reducing number of justices in adjacent towns

§ 106-a. Reducing number of justices in adjacent towns.

1. The town boards of two or more towns that form a contiguous

geographic area within the same county are hereby authorized to

establish a single town court to be comprised of town justices to be

elected from each of such towns in the same manner and for the same

terms as town justices are so elected except that the number of such

terms expiring in any one year may not exceed by more than one the

number of terms expiring in any other year in which terms expire;

provided, however, the town boards of the towns of Erin and Chemung in

Chemung county are hereby authorized to establish a single town court in

accordance with the provisions of this section. The procedure to

establish such single court may be initiated by the town board or may be

initiated by petition. In the event the procedure is initiated by

petition, the petition shall be addressed to each town board and shall

be signed by at least twenty percent of the registered voters in such

towns.

2. The petition shall be made upon white paper containing the

signatures of qualified electors of each town. The sheets of such a

petition shall be numbered consecutively, beginning with number one, at

the foot of each sheet. Such petition must set forth in every instance

the correct date of signing, the full name of the signer and his or her

present residence. A signer need not himself or herself fill in the date

or residence.

Each sheet of such petition shall be signed in ink and shall be

substantially in the following form:

To the Town Boards of the Towns of ................. and .............

County of ................ State of New York.

We, the undersigned, duly qualified electors of the towns of

............... and ................. respectfully petition each town

board to reduce the number of justices in each town to one justice and

provide for the extension of the geographic jurisdiction of such

justices to include the area of such towns and also to provide for an

orderly transition subject to the approval of the electors of each town

as authorized by law.

Date Signature Residence

.........................................................................

.........................................................................

.........................................................................

.........................................................................

Statement of Witness:

I.............state: I am over the age of eighteen years and now

reside at...................(residence, address, or post office address

if not identical) in the Town of.................in the State of New

York, County of................Each of the electors whose names are

subscribed to this petition sheet containing..................(fill in

number) signatures, subscribed his or her name in my presence.

I understand that this statement will be accepted for all purposes as

the equivalent of an affidavit and, if it contains a material false

statement, shall subject me to the same penalties as if I had been duly

sworn.

.........................................................................

Date Signature of Witness

3. Such petition shall be filed in the office of the town clerk of one

of such towns and a certified copy shall be filed in the office of the

town clerk of the other town or towns.

4. Any town board may adopt a resolution calling for the reduction of

the number of justices in the town and in one or more towns that form a

contiguous geographic area. The filing of such original resolution shall

have the same effect as the filing of a petition as authorized by this

section and the clerk in whose office such resolution was filed shall

proceed in the same manner as if such resolution was a duly filed

petition. A certified copy of such resolution shall be filed in the

office of the town clerk of the other town or towns.

5. Within thirty days after such petition or resolution and the

certified copies thereof are filed the town clerk of the town in which

the original petition or resolution was filed shall cause a notice to be

published once in the official newspaper of each town, or, if there be

no official newspaper, in a newspaper published in the county and having

general circulation within the area of each town. Such notice shall

state that the petition or resolution has been received and that at a

specified time not less than twenty days nor more than forty days after

the publication of such notice, which place and dates shall be specified

therein, a joint hearing will be held upon such petition or resolution

by such town boards.

6. The town boards of such towns shall meet at the time and place

specified in such notice. The members of the participating boards shall

agree on the selection of one of their members to preside at such

meeting and in the event no such agreement is reached, he or she shall

be chosen by lot. Such town boards shall hear testimony and receive

evidence and information which may be presented concerning the petition

or resolution to establish a single town court.

7. Within sixty days after the hearing held pursuant to subdivision

six of this section the town boards of such adjacent towns shall

determine whether or not such petition or resolution shall be approved.

In the event one town board disapproves or rejects such petition or

resolution, all proceedings under this section shall terminate and the

existing court system in such adjacent towns shall continue to the same

extent as if no such petition or resolution had been filed.

8. In the event that each respective town board approves such

resolution or petition, such boards shall prepare a joint resolution

which shall provide that the office of one justice in each town shall be

abolished and that the remaining justice in each town shall have

jurisdiction in each town to the same extent as if each such justice was

elected in each town. Such joint resolution shall provide for the

election of at least one town justice every two years but in no case

shall the number of terms expiring in any one year exceed by more than

one the number of terms expiring in any other year in which terms

expire, and shall identify each justice whose office shall be abolished,

and shall identify each justice whose office shall be continued.

9. In the event no agreement can be reached as to which offices shall

be abolished, the offices to be abolished by such resolution shall be

chosen from each of the offices of town justice by lot. However in no

case shall an office be chosen by lot to be abolished that would cause

the remaining offices to violate the requirements of subdivision eight

of this section.

10. Such joint resolution shall be submitted to the electors of each

town at the next general election occurring more than sixty days after

the final determination of the language of such resolution.

11. If such resolution is approved by a majority of the qualified

persons voting thereon in each town such resolution shall be deemed to

be adopted and the plan to establish a single town court shall be

implemented in the manner provided in such resolution. If such

resolution is disapproved by a majority of the qualified persons voting

thereon in one or more towns, such resolution shall be defeated and no

further action shall be taken to implement such plan.

12. Any town justice continuing in office pursuant to such plan and

any town justice hereafter elected pursuant to the plan established in

such resolution shall have jurisdiction in each town in the contiguous

geographic area to the same extent and effect as if such town justice

were elected in each such town.

13. Each town justice exercising jurisdiction in accordance with this

section shall keep a separate set of records and dockets for each town

in which he or she exercises jurisdiction and such justice shall also

maintain a separate bank account for each town for the deposit of moneys

received when exercising jurisdiction in each town.