The New York State Senate has passed legislation (S.195) sponsored by Senator Bill Larkin (R-C, Cornwall-on-Hudson) that would authorize the City of Newburgh to establish an administrative tribunal and appoint hearing examiners to handle all parking tickets.

Senator Larkin explained, "Parking tickets in the City of Newburgh are currently handled by the City Court which requires numerous hours of court time and use of court personnel. As a result, these tickets are usually put on the back burner because of the more serious criminal cases that take priority and are pending in Newburgh City Court. Since the fines for these tickets are rarely collected, the City loses significant revenue each year. This bill would help the City process over 60,000 outstanding tickets and collect fines that are totaling over $3 million."

The legislation was requested by the City of Newburgh to reduce City Court case backlogs, increase traffic infraction penalty collections, establish a more efficient way to manage the parking ticket system, and to establish a system whereby motorists would abide by the parking laws established by the City.

The bill was sent to the Assembly.