Goshen, N.Y. – Officials from the New York State Office of Court Administration and Orange County will dedicate new courtrooms in what is known as “Division 3” of the County Government Center at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 27th.
The ceremony will be held in Courtroom 2. The Hon. Alan Scheinkman, Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department, Hon. Kathie Davidson, Administrative Judge, Ninth Judicial District and Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus, and a representative from the Orange County Bar Association will speak at the dedication. The event will include a tribute to retired New York State Supreme Court Justice Hon. Joseph Owen.
“Together with my colleagues on the Appellate Division, Second Department, I am looking forward to participating in the re-opening of the court side of the Orange County Government Center,” Scheinkman said. “In my former role as Administrative Judge for the Ninth District, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work closely with County Executive Steve Neuhaus and his team and with members of the Orange County Legislature, to rehabilitate and restore the Orange County court facilities. Due to their leadership and dedication, the courts in Orange County and the public, which we all serve, will benefit from their vision and foresight for many years to come.”
Added Davidson: “Having to balance the functional needs of a busy courthouse with preserving the architecture of an historic government building, was a major undertaking with many moving parts. Litigants, as well as judicial and non-judicial employees, all will benefit from the years of work that resulted in a facility with a more opening and welcoming feel. Orange County officials should be commended for their foresight in taking unforeseen circumstances and using them as an opportunity to reshape how the building operates, thereby remaking a 50-year-old building into a modern state of the art facility.”
The Appellate Division, which traditionally hears cases in Brooklyn and has not held an Appellate calendar in Orange County since 2006, will hold a calendar at 10:00 am in Courtroom 2 of the Government Center following the dedication. A Continuing Legal Education Program will be hosted by the Orange County Bar Association that afternoon. The Appellate Justices who will be sitting along with Presiding Justice Scheinkman are Hon. Mark C. Dillon, Hon. Jeffrey A. Cohen and Hon. Linda Christopher.
“This has been a long time coming and we are all looking forward to the dedication,” Neuhaus said. “I’m pleased that all of our courtrooms will now be in the Government Center, along with the Executive and Legislative branches, at the Government Center. Having most of County government under the same roof is a convenience to residents, streamlines operations and increases productivity.”
For more information, contact Justin Rodriguez, Assistant to the County Executive for Communications and Media Relations at 845.291.3255 or jrodriguez@orangecountygov.com.
###