Zinerman, Davila, Epstein, Weprin, Hyndman, Shimsky, Taylor
MLTSPNSR
Amd §105, UJCA; amd §31, Town L; amd §3-301, Vil L
Requires town and village justices be admitted to practice law in New York state for at least five years as of the date they commence the duties of office.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7189
SPONSOR: Bichotte Hermelyn TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the uniform justice court act, the town law and the
village law, in relation to requiring town and village justices be
admitted to practice law in the state
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to create new universal requirements, so
town and village justices have a law degree and a minimum of five years
of practice in the State of New York. Non-attorney justices in office
would be phased out as their terms expire.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: section 105 of the uniform justice court act is amended by
adding a new subdivision (a-1) which requires anyone who will serve as a
town or village justice to be attorney admitted to practice law in the
state for at least five years as of the date duties commence. Existing
justices without this requirement will be allowed to serve for the
remainder of their term.
Section 2: section 31 of the town law is amended by adding a new subdi-
vision (2-a) which requires anyone who will serve as a town or village
justice to be attorney admitted to practice law in the state for at
least five years as of the date duties commence. Existing justices with-
out this requirement will be allowed to serve for the remainder of their
term.
Section 3: section 3-301 of the village law is amended by adding a new
subdivision (a-1) which requires anyone who will serve as a town or
village justice to be attorney admitted to practice law in the state for
at least five years as of the date duties commence. Existing justices
without this requirement will be allowed to serve for the remainder of
their term.
Section 4: sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Although the uniform justice court act became law in 1966 to provide a
uniform jurisdiction, practice and procedure for town and village courts
in the state of New York, nearly six decades later, town and village
justices still are not required to have-the fundamental requirement of a
law degree in the state of New York.
The importance and impact of an effective local court system is immense,
Justice courts are often referred to as "the courts closest to the
people," because they're often the first contact a person accused of an
offense has with the criminal justice system in the State of New York.
Justice court is also where first-time and low-level offenders often
have their cases promptly disposed of, and where, in appropriate cases,
the court can address the issues that bring individuals in contact with
the criminal justice system in the first place.
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) in June of 2023 released a
comprehensive report on recommendations to reform New York State's court
system, titled "Report and recommendations of the New York State Bar
Association Task Force on Modernization of Criminal Practise."
NYSBA's extensive report found that New York's 1,200-plus town and
village courts "operate without significant direct state oversight, and
are presided over by more than 1,800 justices of which more than 1,200
are nonlawyer lay justices."
In the report, the NYSBA states that "in order to provide constitutional
due process, every judge must be an attorney" - which currently is not
the case for town and village justices.
Although a law degree and years of practice are no guarantee of fair-
ness, employing justices without a law degree.and nominal training is
simply not a constitutionally acceptable substitute, especially because
criminal law is complex and becoming more so daily.
These requirements of town and village justices would meet the same
current standards for serving city court judges; thus ensuring all
stakeholders are administered justice by equally qualified justices and
judges, regardless of a municipalities' designation.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
01/03/24 referred to judiciary
11/27/23 referred to judiciary
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7189
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 21, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN, ZINERMAN, DAVILA, EPSTEIN,
WEPRIN, HYNDMAN, SHIMSKY, TAYLOR -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the uniform justice court act, the town law and the
village law, in relation to requiring town and village justices be
admitted to practice law in the state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 105 of the uniform justice court act is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision (a-1) to read as follows:
3 (a-1) Education. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
4 contrary, no person may serve as a town or village justice in a town or
5 village unless they are an attorney admitted to practice law in this
6 state for at least five years as of the date they commence the duties of
7 office. Notwithstanding the foregoing, non-attorney justices in office
8 as of the effective date of this subdivision shall remain eligible to
9 serve as a justice for the court on which they currently sit for the
10 remainder of their term.
11 § 2. Section 31 of the town law is amended by adding a new subdivision
12 2-a to read as follows:
13 2-a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no
14 person may serve as a town justice unless they are an attorney admitted
15 to practice law in this state for at least five years as of the date
16 they commence the duties of office. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
17 non-attorney justices in office as of the effective date of this subdi-
18 vision shall remain eligible to serve as a justice for the court on
19 which they currently sit for the remainder of their term.
20 § 3. Section 3-301 of the village law is amended by adding a new
21 subdivision 6 to read as follows:
22 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no
23 person may serve as a village justice unless they are an attorney admit-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11045-01-5
A. 7189 2
1 ted to practice law in this state for at least five years as of the date
2 they commence the duties of office. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
3 non-attorney justices in office as of the effective date of this subdi-
4 vision shall remain eligible to serve as a justice for the court on
5 which they currently sit for the remainder of their term.
6 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
7 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
