Court space sharingThe work of this committee was suspended when the "Dunne Report" was released, causing uncertainty about what requirements New York State would impose on justice courts.  There was also some discontent by the town representatives because of a financial analysis that Yurgartis prepared.

 The committee is waiting for mayor Tishler and supervisor Regan to restart our meetings.

Below is some history of the process.

On May 13, 2008, the village board sent a letter to the town council asking them to undertake a joint study on the merits of sharing court space and court services. As a result, a "Court Sharing Committee" was organized.  The committee members are:

  • Ruth Garner, village deputy mayor
  • Marie Regan, town supervisor
  • Steve Yurgartis, village trustee
  • Mike Zagrobelny, town councilman

Yurgartis served as chair.

Based on a request by village board members Tischler, Regan, and Garner, the committee excluded any consideration of court consolidation (dissolving the village court and merging operations with the town court). The present study is looking at the possibility of sharing space for the operation of separate courts.

The committee agreed on a set of goals for court sharing.

As our work progressed, we have narrowed the options being considered to:
  1. Shared space in the Civic Center
  2. Shared space in Clarkson's downtown Snell Hall
  3. Shared space in the current town office building on Market St.
  4. Non-shared space

We have also started to develop a weighted decision matrix to help us evaluate the alternatives.

We asked engineer Aaron Jarvis of Tisdel Associates and architect Brooks Washburn to develop concept plans for the shared spaces. These plans are available for inspection.

Yurgartis prepared a estimate of the costs of the various options. To see various parts of the spreadsheet click on the tabs near the bottom. This is a draft analysis; the committee has not yet agreed that these numbers are accurate.

Background reading

The NYS Office of Court Administration has recently released an report titled: Action Plan for the Justice Courts. This plan has guidelines for court space design, mostly concerning security issues. See in particular Appendix B. http://nycourts.gov/publications/pdfs/ActionPlan-JusticeCourts.pdf

The NYS Office of the Comptroller issued a report in 2003 on: Opportunities for Town and Village Justice Court Consolidation. http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/swr/2003mr4.pdf

In April 2008 the NYS Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness released an influential report.  A section of the report makes recommendations regarding justice courts.  See p. 23 of the report. http://www.nyslocalgov.org/pdf/LGEC_Final_Report.pdf?pagemode=bookmarks

In September 2008 the OCA released an extensive report (the "Dunne Report") that recommends reform of the justice courts.  It is likely that this report will have a strong influence on how NYS regulates justice courts.  It is long, detailed, and makes specific recommendations.  For example, it proposes that the current 35 justice courts in St. Lawrence County be combined into between 24 and 18 courts.  A county panel would make the decisions about combinations that would have the force of law. http://www.nycourts.gov/whatsnew/


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