In an effort to keep Orange County’s citizens informed about the nature of the system that serves them, we offer the following brief description of the workings of the criminal justice system in New York, in general, and in Orange County, specifically.

A word of caution: The laws regulating the criminal justice system are complex, filling many volumes of statutes and case decisions. As a result, this short treatment of the subject will necessarily be incomplete. It should not be used as a substitute for thorough research on any of the subjects that it discusses.