Court will now handle off-hours arraignments

PENN YAN--Yates County started a new program Oct. 1 that allows handling off-hours arraignments and ensuring every defendant is represented by an attorney at the arraignment.
Under the program, judges in Yates County's local criminal courts will be assigned to the new facility on a rotational basis to hold arraignments resulting from off-hours arrests in the county --with a judge, prosecutor and public defender available at all hours. This is the fourth Centralized Arraignment Part (CAP) in the Seventh Judicial District, which along with Yates County includes Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben and Wayne Counties. The district's other CAPs serve Livingston, Ontario and Seneca Counties. The goal is to have a CAP in each county of the district.
The Yates CAP is a collaborative effort of the Seventh Judicial District and its partner agencies in Yates County. It was developed in consultation with the Office of Court Administration and the Administrative Board of the Courts, which is led by the Chief Judge and sets statewide policies and practices for the New York Courts. The state's other CAPs, launched in May 2017, are in Broome, Oneida, Onondaga and Washington Counties.
Justice Craig J. Doran, administrative judge of the Seventh Judicial District was in Penn Yan Tuesday, Oct. 23 to officially open the court at the public safety building.