News

NEWS FROM THE TOWN OF WASHINGTON

July 31, 2007 - Justice Court News

There are many exciting things happening for our Town’s Justice Court these days.  First, both justices, the Honorable Elizabeth K. Shequine & the Honorable Bruce M. Aubin have hired Dana Lopergalo to be the new Justice Clerk.  Dana has been on board since January.  Ms. Pauline Powell, the Justice Clerk for the Town of Washington of 19 years, has retired and we wish her the best of luck.

Dana is a familiar face within Town Hall and she is quite happy to have taken on her new position.  Many exciting things have begun to happen, or are in the process, for the summer/fall of this year.  To start, all proceedings within the court are being handled via computer technology these days and we are proud to notify the public that the court is up & running electronically with the Department of Motor Vehicles, the NYS Comptroller’s Office & the Department of Criminal Justice Services.  This will reduce the cost of postage/mailing & fax costs and, more importantly, having the capability of communicating with these strategic offices allows the court to increase the accuracy of competed documents; it also gives our court the ability to serve the community at the highest level by allowing judges to securely run defendant rap sheets & DMV abstracts.

Another change allows the town to receive revenues directly by electronic communication rather than waiting for such funds to be mailed from the Comptroller’s office on a quarterly basis. 

The courtroom has recently been painted, and a new filing system is in progress.  Recently, the court was awarded funds by the State of New York’s JCAP Grant – the funds will go to much new and necessary equipment within the court room.  Also, in accordance with a recently announced “State Action Plan”, our court is scheduled for a “Security Audit”.  This will offer heightened security measures including a metal detector.  The “Action Plan” will allow us to accept credit cards for fines/surcharges, and civil fees.  We will notify the once we have received the device and have been properly set up. 

The new Court Clerk, Dana, has attended more than 20 hours of training.  Attending such conferences & upcoming sessions allows the court staff to remain up-to-date, with the advances being made within the court system.  Lastly, Court Clerk hours have changed to Monday thru Friday from 1:30-3:00 PM and court is held the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th Tuesday of each month beginning at 5:00 PM.  To contact the court please call during Clerk hours @ 845-677-6366.  To send a fax dial 845-677-6366 *9 and hit your start key.

We look forward to continuing to serve the community.