A 1511: Creates the fourteenth judicial district consisting of the county of Erie and a supreme court library at Erie.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1511 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. RIVERA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to the creation of the fourteenth judicial district consisting of the county of Erie and a supreme court library at Erie The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 70 of the judiciary law, as amended by chapter 690 2 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 70. Judicial departments. The state is hereby divided into four 4 judicial departments. The first department shall consist of the counties 5 embraced within the first and twelfth judicial districts; the second 6 department shall consist of the counties embraced within the second, 7 ninth, tenth, eleventh and thirteenth judicial districts; the third 8 department shall consist of the counties embraced within the third, 9 fourth and sixth judicial districts; the fourth department shall consist 10 of the counties embraced within the fifth, seventh [and], eighth and 11 fourteenth judicial districts. 12 § 2. The opening paragraph and the eighth undesignated paragraph of 13 section 140 of the judiciary law, the opening paragraph as amended by 14 chapter 690 of the laws of 2007 and the eighth undesignated paragraph as 15 amended by chapter 10 of the laws of 1948, are amended and a new four- 16 teenth undesignated paragraph is added to read as follows: 17 The state is hereby divided into [thirteen] fourteen judicial 18 districts, pursuant to the provisions of the first section of the sixth 19 article of the constitution, which districts shall be arranged as 20 follows: 21 The eighth judicial district shall consist of the counties of [Erie,] 22 Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Orleans, Niagara, Genesee, Allegany and Wyom- 23 ing; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03033-01-5 
 A. 1511 2 1 The fourteenth judicial district shall consist of the county of Erie. 2 The creation of such fourteenth district shall not affect or impair the 3 rights, privileges or compensation of any officer or employee of the 4 supreme court in office on the first day of January, two thousand twen- 5 ty-six in the eighth judicial district as theretofore constituted; each 6 such officer or employee employed in the county of Erie on such date 7 shall thereafter be an officer or employee for the fourteenth judicial 8 district and each such officer or employee employed in the counties of 9 Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Orleans, Niagara, Genesee, Allegany and Wyoming 10 on such date shall thereafter be an officer or employee for the eighth 11 judicial district. 12 § 3. Subdivisions 8 and 13 of section 140-a of the judiciary law, as 13 amended by chapter 749 of the laws of 2023, are amended and a new subdi- 14 vision 14 is added to read as follows: 15 8. Eighth district, [twenty-eight] five; 16 13. Thirteenth district, nine[.]; 17 14. Fourteenth district, seventeen. 18 § 4. The county of Erie shall establish, maintain and expand, if 19 necessary, its court library, as established in accordance with sections 20 813 and 814 of the judiciary law, to accommodate the needs of the four- 21 teenth judicial district. The Charles B. Swartwood Law Library at Elmi- 22 ra shall continue to serve as the court library for the eighth judicial 23 district. 24 § 5. The following named justices or their successors in office on the 25 effective date of this act shall for the remainder of the terms for 26 which they were elected or appointed be justices of the supreme court in 27 and for the eighth judicial district as reconstituted and continued by 28 this act. 29 Grace M. Hanlon 30 Diane Devlin 31 Frank Caruso 32 Paula Feroleto 33 Frank A. Sedita III 34 The following named justices or their successors in office on the 35 effective date of this act shall for the remainder of the terms for 36 which they were elected or appointed be justices of the supreme court in 37 and for the fourteenth judicial district as created and constituted by 38 this act. Any positions that were vacant on June 6, 2025 shall be 39 justices of the eighth judicial district. 40 Deborah A. Chimes 41 Emilio Colaiacovo 42 John DelMonte 43 Daniel J. Ferlong 44 Gerald Greenan III 45 Deborah A. Haendiges 46 Craig D. Hannah 47 John B. Licata 48 Joseph Lorigo 49 Amy C. Martoche 50 Edward A. Pace 51 Catherine Nugent Panepinto 52 Donna M. Siwek 53 Mary Slisz 54 Kelly Vacco 55 Raymond W. Walter 
 A. 1511 3 1 Dennis E. Ward 2 Paul B. Wojtaszek 3 § 6. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 816 to read 4 as follows: 5 § 816. Supreme court library at Erie. The law library for the county 6 officials of the county of Erie, as now constituted and all of the books 7 therein, shall be the law library of the supreme court of the state of 8 New York in the fourteenth judicial district and shall be in the care 9 and custody and under the control of the justices of the supreme court 10 of the state of New York in the fourteenth judicial district or a major- 11 ity of them, not designated as justices of the appellate division, who 12 shall be the trustees thereof. The trustees shall have power to receive 13 by gift, devise or bequest any property given or conveyed for the 14 purpose of a law library and to hold and manage and dispose of the same, 15 and may make rules and regulations for the management and protection of 16 said library and prescribe penalties for the violation thereof. They may 17 sue for and recover such penalties and may maintain actions for injury 18 to said library. They may also designate from among their number a 19 library committee or committees, the members of which shall have the 20 power to administer the rules and regulations prescribed by the said 21 trustees. The trustees may employ and appoint such persons as they may 22 deem necessary for the proper care, management and maintenance of said 23 library and fix their salaries. The library and the equipment shall also 24 be available for the use of the surrogate, family and criminal court 25 judges, district attorney and other county officials of the county of 26 Erie and the judges of the civil court of the city of Buffalo presiding 27 in such county. The librarian and the assistant librarian, shall, in 28 addition to the duties of librarian and assistant librarian, perform any 29 and all duties as may be required of or imposed upon them by said trus- 30 tees. The trustees may also procure proper furniture for the said 31 library, purchase books therefor and defray all the expenses incidental 32 to its care and management. They shall yearly ascertain the amount 33 necessary for the aforesaid purposes and certify it to the board of 34 estimate who shall provide for raising and paying the same. 35 § 7. It is the intended object of this act to erect, in the fourth 36 judicial department, the fourteenth judicial district, comprised of the 37 county of Erie and to provide for the employees thereof selection, 38 designation, nomination and election in the general election to be held 39 in November, 2026 of justices of the eighth and fourteenth judicial 40 districts consistent with the foregoing provisions of this act. Any 41 other consistent provision of law, rule or regulation which by its terms 42 or in its application aids in the accomplishment of such object shall be 43 given full force and effect. Any provision which is inconsistent with 44 the accomplishment of such object shall be denied force and effect to 45 the extent that it may be applicable thereto. 46 § 8. If any provisions of any section of this act shall be held void 47 or unconstitutional, all other provisions and all other sections of this 48 act which are not expressly held to be void or unconstitutional shall 49 continue in full force and effect. 50 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately provided that sections one 51 through six of this act shall take effect January 1, 2026.