Senate Bill S1942

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1942

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the uniform city court act, in relation to authorizing
a part-time housing court judge in the city of Buffalo

 PURPOSE :
This legislation would authorize the city of Buffalo to add one
additional part-time judge, whose sole purpose will be to deal with
housing court issues.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
Section 1 amends paragraph 7 of subdivision (d) of section 2104 of the
uniform city court act, as amended by chapter 493 of the laws of 2006
to specify that the city of Buffalo will have 13 full-time judges and
one part-time judge.

Section 2 adds a new subdivision (g) to section 2104 of the uniform
city court act, adding one part-time judge with a stipulation that
such judge's jurisdiction will be limited to housing court issues.

 EXISTING LAW :
Under present law, the city of Buffalo is limited to 13 full-time
judges.

 JUSTIFICATION :
              

The issues addressed in housing court in the city of Buffalo are
critical to the future revitalization of the city, and judges handling
these cases have a major impact on the quality of life faced by city
residents and visitors to Buffalo. Given the large number of cases
pending in housing court, there is a huge backlog of cases to be
heard, not withstanding a constant influx of new cases. The addition
of one part-time judge would provide the court with the resources
needed to deal with these cases in a prompt, efficient manner.

The Buffalo Common Council has gone on record in support of this
request through their Resolution
103.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
2007 New bill - S.2417  Referred to Judiciary

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None to New York State.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
The City of Buffalo would be responsible for the salary and any other
benefits to be paid to the additional judge.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately.