Justice Court

DeBorah Renee' Brathwaite, Chief Court Clerk
Southampton Town Justice Court
32 Jackson Avenue, Hampton Bays, New York 11946
Direct: 631-702-2970 fax 631-728-2954
Email: rbrathwaite@southamptontownny.gov

Justice Court - MAIN PHONE NUMBER: (631) 702-2990

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

The Justice Court is a multi-faceted Court, processing all criminal, civil, traffic and parking summonses issued within Town of Southampton. Complaints are handled from the following agencies: Southampton Town Police, New York State Police, Sag Harbor Village Police, Suffolk County Sheriff, Suffolk County Police, Park Rangers, Environmental Conservation, Bay Constables, Fire Marshall and Building and Zoning. Each court case involves many procedures. For the cases, the initial information must be keyed in and the defendant's plea must be entered. Bail, if set and paid, must be entered, deposited in the bank and a record kept for auditing purposes. The cases must be scheduled for arraignment, for conferences, and maybe for trial. The Judge's decision must be noted, if any payment, it is posted to the computer, deposited in the bank, the processing of paperwork; and then the final procedure is to close the case manually and electronically both in CDR and TSLED, so that it can appear on the monthly report.

Workload

• The Southampton Town Justice Court is one of the busiest Justice Courts in the State. In 2009, the Justice Court handled over 47,000 cases including Small Claims, Civil, Criminal, Traffic, Town Codes, and Parking Tickets. In 2009, this Court had over 45,000 people pass through the metal detector with approximately 15,000 activations.
• Total revenue of $3,064,244.10 was collected and the New York State Comptroller returned $1,651,422.40 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 and Wednesday afternoons, as well as all Holidays. Small Claims and Civil Court is held on Monday and Friday Mornings, as well as some Wednesday evenings. Traffic tickets are heard every day of the week, whether in morning or afternoon sessions. Criminal cases are heard on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the morning and afternoon sessions. Parking Tickets are heard on Thursday afternoon at 1 PM.Town Codes are heard on Friday afternoon at 1 PM. 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.
• To handle this workload, there are four (4) Judges using three (3) courtrooms, along with one (1) Chief Court Clerk, thirteen (13) Full time clerks, two (2) Part time clerks, one (1) Law clerk, two (2) stenographers, and two (2) interpreters. Every summer there are Law interns to assist the Judges. Also, assisting the Courts are four (4) 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 fifty (50) defendants and over forty (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 and the DMV Call 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), the Justice Court Assistant Program (JCAP), as well as the Justice Court Survey through OCA.