2 Hudson Valley Courts to Get More Judges, Decrease Major Backlogs in New York

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed new legislation to address the major backlogs facing courts around the state.

The latest legislation makes moves to decrease the intense backlog by adding more judges to these courts.

New York Addresses Major Backlog in Family and Civil Court Cases

On Wednesday, July 17th, Governor Kathy Hochul signed Legislation S.9839/A.10540 to increase the number of judges hearing civil and family court cases across New York State.

In total, the state will gain 28 new judges for these courts.

According to State Senator Brad Holyman-Sigal, the issue of the major backlogs was addressed last fall in a State Senate hearing. Senator Holyman-Sigal contributed to the creation of the latest legislation.

This is what he said regarding its passage:

"One of the many valuable ideas to come out of this hearing, and the subsequent report published by my office, was the desperate need to increase the number of Family Court judges which could help address the thousands of backlogged cases in the system. I’m thrilled that today my bill with Assembly Member Dais to do just that has been signed into law."

Assemblymember Landon C. Dais, who also sponsored the bill, had this to say about its passing:

"When this bill is enacted, these court systems can expedite case proceedings and justice can reach more families in a timely and equitable manner."

 

Which Courts in New York will be Gaining Judges as a Result?

According to the governor, New York City will gain 16 judges to be split among the 5 boroughs. The rest of the new positions will be filled in Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Erie, Jefferson, Rensselaer, Rockland and Westchester counties.

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Specific judges have not been appointed or elected into these potions just yet. This bill allows for a greater number of judges to take on cases in these courts.