Justice Court - Welcome

Justice Court - Welcome

Renee Brathwaite, Senior Justice Court Clerk
Email: rbrathwaite@southamptontownny.gov
Phone: (631) 702-2990
Fax: (631) 728-2954

Justice Court - CIVIL DEPT (631) 702-2997
Justice Court - JURY DEPT (631) 702-2995
Justice Court - TRAFFIC DEPT (631) 702-2998
Justice Court - CRIMINAL DEPT (631) 702-2996
Justice Court - PARKING DEPT (631) 702-2994

Departmental Responsibility

  • The Southampton Town Justice Court is one of the busiest Justice Courts in the State. In 2008, the Justice Court handled over 47000 cases including Small Claims, Civil, Criminal, Traffic, Town Codes, and Parking Tickets. In 2008 this Court had over 45,000 pass through the metal detector with approximately 15,000 activations.
  • Total revenue of $2,935,644.20 was collected and the New York State Comptroller returned $1,572,855.80 to the Town. In June of 2002, the Court started to accept credit cards with Master Card and Visa.
  • Arraignments are held on Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings, as well as all Holidays. Small Claims and Civil Court is held on Monday and Friday Mornings. Traffic tickets are heard on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon sessions. Criminal cases are heard on Tuesday and Wednesday in the morning and afternoon sessions. The Town Code and Parking tickets are heard on Wednesday afternoon and Friday mornings. Jury and non-jury trials are heard on Thursday. Drug Court is heard on Tuesday afternoons. Night Court is held on Wednesday Nights for Small Claims, Civil, and some Town Code matters. In addition a video arraignment system will be purchased for the Justice Court by Resolution 2009-1146.
  • To handle this workload, there are 4 Judges using 2 courtrooms, along with 1 Chief Court Clerk, 14 Full time clerks, 2 Part time clerks, 1 Law clerk, 2 stenographers, and 2 interpreters. Every summer there are Law interns to assist the Judges. Also assisting the Courts are 5 court officers (budgeted through the Police Department), and a Domestic Violence staff (budgeted through the Human Services Department, as per Chapter 8 of the Town Code).
  • In November 2003, the Drug Court (East End Regional Intervention Court (EERIC)) was started with Southampton Town Justice Deborah Kooperstein and Riverhead Town Justice Allen Smith. It started with one defendant and now has over 50 defendants and over 40 graduates. The Drug Court expenses are funded through an appropriation of the Justice Court Trust Fund, established by Town Board Resolution 2009-57.
  • With this additional workload and the volume increasing each year, the computer system had to be updated and the Court chose Service Education Inc. (SEI). In May of 2004 the system became Windows NT platform and the Court was able to electronically submit the monthly reports to the State. In 2005, the system was updated to allow the Court to upload the Criminal Dispositions (CDR) and the vehicle and traffic violations (EDATE). At that time, the system also allowed the New York State Police to be able to start the new TRACS tickets. In 2008, the Court obtained access to use the EJUSTICE system.
  • With such a large workload, there is a huge demand on equipment, computers, and technological devices. Since 2001, the Court staff has been successfully writing and applying for grants to secure these items. The application of grants are submitted to the Office of Court Administration (OCA) and the Justice Court Assistant Program (JCAP).
The goals and objectives of the Justice Court for 2010 are as follows:
  1. Continue to cross train the staff to optimize resources and improve level of service.
  2. Continue to optimize the CDR, EDATE, and EJUSTICE programs.
  3. Continue to optimize the parking procedure implemented using the system in SEI.
  4. Complete the update the record keeping and microfilming of the Courts data.
  5. Complete the move to the Jackson Avenue site, and ensure a smooth transition for scheduled court operations.
  6. Consider the expanding of the Video Arraignment with Sag Harbor Village.