ALBANY – The New York State Bar Association is recommending that the state’s town and village courts be consolidated into district courts and that non-lawyers no longer be allowed to serve as judges. The state legislature is being lobbied by the association to make the changes.
The association is urging state lawmakers to require that all judges possess a law degree and five years of practice to be qualified to serve as a judge in village and town courts. These minimum standards are already required in order to serve as a city court judge.
If the proposed law is adopted, non-lawyer judges would be phased out as their four-year terms expire.
The State Constitution requires that county governments need to request the state legislature to approve the plan for the creation of district courts. The county administrations would need to determine a central location for the court along with establishing longer hours of operation and a full-time staff.
“The justice system needs to be reformed and consolidated. All judges must have a legal educational at least five years of experience practicing law before taking the bench,” said Sherry Levin Wallach, the association’s immediate past president. Wallach said that the changes are needed because “People’s freedom, lives, and livelihoods are at stake.”
The state legislature adjourned for the remainder of the year last week.
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