Delaware County approves centralized arraignment, hears about art trail

May 11—The Delaware County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution endorsing Centralized Arraignment Part in the county during the May 10, meeting.

Joshua Shapiro, special counsel to the administrative judge for town and village courts at Sixth Judicial District, and Hamden Town Justice Gay Merrill, who is also president of the Delaware County Magistrate Association, were at the meeting to answer any questions town supervisors may have had about the program.

Shapiro said centralized arraignment would be held at 8:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., and an on-call judge and defense attorney would be used for the arraignments.

Hancock Town Supervisor Jerry Vernold said his town justice had some concerns about the program. "We're 40 miles away," he said. Vernold said his town's justice is 73 years old and doesn't want to drive in the snow or at night and asked if they could opt out of being on call.

Shapiro said the magistrate association would handle who is on call. Merrill said every judge has to be on the roster, but not all have to be on-call. "Some judges should not be driving after dark," she said.

Harpersfield Town Supervisor Lisa Driscoll asked if there were any concerns raised by other counties that have implemented a centralized arraignment. Shapiro answered that some counties have found the burden on correction officers has increased because they are in charge of the defendants until the arraignment is held. "All law enforcement officers love it, the district attorney offices like it and the public defenders like it," he said.

Hamden Town Supervisor Wayne Marshfield asked if the town court clerks have to be at the arraignment if the town judge is scheduled to be there. Shapiro said no, the judges will go through training to fill out the paperwork correctly and get paid a stipend for doing so.

Walton Town Supervisor Joe Cetta asked if the judges would be paid if they didn't have to preside over an arraignment. Shapiro said no, they would only be paid if they reported to work.

Andes Town Supervisor Wayland Gladstone asked how judges would know if they had to report to the centralized arraignment to work. Shapiro said they would call to see if they had to report to Delhi.

Stamford Town Supervisor John Kosier asked when the resolution would take affect. Shapiro said the state Office of Court Administration has to approve the plan. The plan would be to create a courtroom at the public safety building in Delhi for the arraignments.

Supervisors also listened as Richard Lowe III, director of regional economic development of Hancock Partners Inc., talked about this year's River, Road & Rail Art Trail that will begin July 4 and last until Oct. 23. The trail will incorporate seven sculptures by famous sculpture artists, Lowe said. According to a write-up of the show, the artists showing will be Robert Ressler, Wendy Klemperer, Ben Keating, John Clement, Motoko Fukuyama, Nora Valdez and Harry L. Gordon. After the meeting, Lowe said some of the sculptures that will be placed in Hancock are wolves, limestone people, a metal couch and a stone sculpture.

The sculptures will be installed primarily in the reservoir towns of Hancock, Deposit, Walton, Colchester and Tompkins. Another one will be in Andes, he said, and one will also be onboard the Delaware and Ulster Railroad.

Lowe said his organization received a $5,000 grant from the county's tourism promotion agency last year to host an art walk, which attracted 1,200 people. This year's art tour is expected to bring 10,000 to 15,000 people to the county, he said.

The trail will provide opportunities for local artists to participate as well by partnering with local businesses to display their artwork in the windows, Lowe said.

He said he hopes to make the art trail a yearly event. Vernold said if a sculpture sells, the host town will receive a 30% commission. Some pieces could sell for $1 million, which means the host town would receive $300,000, Lowe said. The town could use the money to set up an endowment fund or enhance parks and recreation, he said.

Lowe said after the meeting, the group initially applied for $50,000 from the county to host the art trail, but the county only gives out $5,000 grants. He said during the art walk the town held last year, businesses saw a 20% increase in sales and 50% increase in foot traffic.

Near the end of the meeting, Board Chair and Bovina Town Supervisor Tina Molé said she attended a conference call with the governor's office about the end of Title 42.

She said three different state staff members said the number of migrants coming into New York City is expected to double after Title 42 is lifted. She said the state and the city have the power to place the migrants outside the five boroughs and into the upstate region. She said New York City would pay for the housing of them.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.