Eliminating the Village of Cobleskill court won’t save money or increase efficiency, it may well not deliver justice, and it may be too much work for two of the hardest-working justices in New York State.
Those were among the conclusions—some of them only implied—when 3rd District Unified Court System representatives Dave Dellehunt and Paul Toomey outlined the implications of just one court for the village last Monday.
It was month #2 of a public hearing on Mayor Mark Galasso’s proposal to close the village court and hand the job over to the Town of Cobleskill.
The village hopes to decide on the issue in June; it could also be on the November ballot if voters collect enough signatures to force a permissive referendum.
In addition to working for the 3rd District Administrative Office of the Unified Court System, both Mr. Dellehunt and Mr. Toomey are attorneys and municipal justices.
Mr. Dellehunt stressed they don’t take positions on closing courts.
“We’re very cognizant of the fiscal realities...but it’s important to understand all of the factors at play,” he said.
“We all know that local government is about delivery of services. It’s important to make sure justice is delivered in the same way.”
The village court “jumps off the page” in terms of paperwork-intensive DWI arrests, Mr. Dellehunt said: 147 in 2010, 233 in ’09.
The town had 46 DWI arrests in ’10 and 30 in ’09.
“DWI cases take an enormous amount of work and time,” Mr. Dellehunt said. “You’re fortunate to have such dedicated justices. If they ever leave you’ll have a tough time replacing them.
Arraignment numbers are also high: a “mind-boggling” 240 in the village and 74 in the town in 2010; 255 and 67 respectively in ’09.
And unlike DWIs, arraignments don’t generate any income for the court.
Currently, Dick Hamm is village justice and Dick Northrup, acting justice.
Nancy Hisert and Mr. Hamm are town justices; town law makes no provision for acting justices.
Together, there are 1½ court clerks.
Mr. Hamm makes about $5,000 a year as town justice and $10,600 as village justice; Ms. Hisert makes $5,000 as town justice.
Town Supervisor Tom Murray said Mayor Galasso’s proposal doesn’t take into consideration Mr. Northrup’s work as an appointed part-time justice handling civil cases.
“It’s a decision that shouldn’t be rushed into. Make it very carefully,” Mr. Dellehunt agreed.
Speaking from the audience, Ron Ruland said he shadowed the justices when he was considering running for the post and called the workload unbelievable.
“You can’t make a mistake with people’s lives,” he said. “Given what these gentlemen are saying, I can’t fathom why you’d consider it.”
Trustee Linda Holmes said she’s researched the issue and though it may be worth looking at, she feels without an acting justice, the move to just a town court is going to cost more.
“I don’t even know how our parking lot’s going to handle it,” she added.
Mayor Galasso agreed there will likely be no cost savings, but said again, he ran on dissolving the village and this is one more step toward that.
“I don’t believe the County of Schoharie needs 27 different entities,” he said.
“That’s insanity.”
The village court can only be dissolved in a year when the justice’s position is on the November ballot; with Mr. Hamm’s term up, this is such a year.
“But I have concerns that we’re moving too fast,” Ms. Holmes said. “I think it’s worth looking at, but we need to slow down.”