The Schuyler County Chapter of SCOPE or the Shooters Committee on Political Education will hold a “Meet the Candidates Night” next week.Shooters Committee on Political Education (S.C.O.P.E) is a non-partisan statewide organization dedicated to preserving Second Amendment Civil Rights through public education and promoting voter participation.
As part of its mission, S.C.O.P.E. is inviting candidates for countywide (local/state/federal) office to attend its quarterly meeting on October 6th at the Montour Falls Moose Lodge as a “Meet the Candidates Night.” Candidates will be given the opportunity to make a few brief remarks and answer questions from the membership. This will not be a debate but, rather, a chance for interested persons to interact with candidates directly.
Candidates invited include those persons running for Schuyler County Treasurer, County Legislature, New York State Senate, New York State Assembly, U.S. Congressional District NY-23 and others.
Members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend.
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Schuyler County SCOPE to Host “Meet the Candidates” Night
Monday, September 12, 2022
Notice of public hearing: Civil legal services in New York
• The impact of Judiciary Civil Legal Services funding (JCLS) on the delivery of civil legal services and the fair and efficient administration of justice in the State courts.Live Stream the hearing here.
• The current scope of the unmet need for civil legal services by low-income New Yorkers and the funding necessary to provide effective assistance to meet those needs, including costs related to pandemic-
• related modifications to legal services delivery. The impact of adequate civil legal services funding on economic, social, and public health outcomes for low- income and vulnerable communities and individuals, including persons with disabilities, the elderly, veterans, and children.
• The economic benefits to individuals, communities, the courts, and the State from the provision of civil legal services where essentials of life are at stake.
• The cost and impact of a funded statutory right to counsel in meeting the civil legal needs of low-income New Yorkers.
• The impact on the delivery of effective civil legal services due to attorney shortages throughout the State, particularly in rural areas.
• The importance of bridging the digital divide, particularly with regard to remote appearances, to ensure equal access to justice.
• The need for increased pro bono services, law school programs, and non-lawyer programs, including the Court Navigator Program and Legal Hand.
• New or expanded community collaborations among legal services providers, law schools, law and public libraries, health care providers, and clergy.
Monday, September 5, 2022
Second Amendment Legal Update, September 2022
Monday, August 29, 2022
11th National Animal Cruelty Prosecution Conference announced
The goal of this training is to provide prosecutors, law enforcement, and others with the requisite skills to strengthen links between the criminal justice system and the community by protecting our most vulnerable victims and to enhance prosecutors' ability to successfully identify and prosecute animal cruelty and animal fighting cases.The conference is intended for prosecutors, law enforcement and animal control officers, veterinarians and related disciplines involved in the prosecution of animal cruelty crimes.
For more on the conference, including how to register, click here.
Monday, August 22, 2022
County Officials to Hochul: Raise the Age law at “crisis level”
That’s the finding of a statewide group of county officials and probation administrators, in a letter sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday (August 8).
As noted in the letter, the 2018 RTA law created a new “adolescent offender” status for 16-and 17-year-olds who commit a felony-level crime. Under the law, instead of being tried as adults and placed in jails, the most serious offenders could be sent to specialized secure detention facilities.
However, despite mandating that counties operate or have access to those facilities (which never existed before RTA), the scarcity of these state-certified facilities has led to “severely negative consequences,” for the public and the counties who administer the law.
“When secure detention space is not available, the Adolescent Offender, which is often a high-risk individual alleged to have a committed a serious and violent crime, is released to be supervised by the probation department.”
To help resolve this crisis, the county officials are urging Hochul to transition some of the closed Department of Correctional and Community Supervision facilities to accommodate the lack of specialized secure detention beds.
The county representatives also suggested that the state allow the Finger Lakes Consortium to open a specialized secure detention facility.
That consortium, created via a 2018 Intermunicipal Agreement, drafted by Schuyler County Attorney Steven Getman, looks to establish a not-for-profit local development corporation to develop and operate a joint detention facility under RTA. Counties who have joined—or are looking to join—the consortium are Allegany, Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Cattaraugus, Wayne, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins and Yates. The counties contracted with John Treahy, of Treahy and Associates Consultation Services, an organization experienced in juvenile justice and child welfare issues, job coaching and staff training. v RTA was intended as a shift from punishing to rehabilitating teens charged with crimes. While in custody, the suspects would be eligible for a variety of case services and programs to divert them from offending again and give them access to treatment for addiction or other problems.
The “Raise the Age NY Campaign” believes the law will be more effective in preventing re-offenses. They cite a U.S. Center for Disease Control study that found youth who are tried in the adult criminal justice system are 34 percent more likely to commit future crimes than those who remain in the youth justice system.
A complete copy of the letter to Hochul, signed by representatives of the New York State Association of Counties, Council of Probation Administrators and County Executives’ Association can be found here
Monday, August 15, 2022
Schuyler County American Red Cross Blood Drive - November 8th, 2022
The event will be held between 9:30am - 2:30pm at the county’s Human Services Complex, Conference Room #120, in Montour Falls.
Interested donors schedule an appointment here.
Monday, August 8, 2022
Second Amendment Legal Update, August 2022
Monday, August 1, 2022
Schuyler County Dad Lands in Jail for Failing to Pay Child Support
A Schuyler County man was given a 90-day jail sentence for not paying over $11,000 in past-due child support, following an appearance in Schuyler County Family Court on Tuesday (July 19, 2022).(T)he man was found in willful violation of a prior court order because he failed to pay $11,735.85 in court-ordered support for the benefit of his two children. This failure to pay stretched back to at least July 2018, and had already resulted in numerous judgments, a probation sentence and a prior order of incarceration, court records showed. The man is also facing a new child support violation proceeding, that can also result in up to an additional six months of incarceration. Most recently the respondent was picked up on a child support warrant in Chemung County on Monday (July 18, 2022).
Assistant County Attorney Vinton Stevens presented the violation case for the County Attorney’s office. At Wednesday’s court appearance, Stevens advised the court that the respondent had not made any payments toward the amount due since December 2021, although the man had been employed and paying up until that time.Based on the evidence, Stevens argued that the respondent should be sentenced to 90 days in jail, due to the man’s failure to meet the conditions of a previously imposed suspended sentence.
The respondent was represented by Schuyler County Assistant Public Defender Mark Raniewicz.
After hearing from the attorneys, and giving the respondent an opportunity to speak, Schuyler County Family Court Judge Matthew Hayden determined that the respondent should be jailed. Therefore, he sentenced the respondent to ninety days of incarceration. Hayden also directed that the respondent could be released from jail if he paid the full amount of back child support.
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The man’s name and address were not released to protect the privacy of his children and family.
Monday, July 25, 2022
Schuyler County to hold falls prevention seminar
The seminar will be held from 10 am - 2 pm at the county’s Human Services Complex, 323 Owego Street in Montour Falls.
Please RSVP by September 15 by calling 607-535-6834 or by email.
For more information, click here.
Monday, July 18, 2022
Watkins Glen man sentenced for grand larceny, fraud
On July 14, Louis Latorre, 48, was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for the theft, the maximum possible sentence for each of his seven charges, according to the District Attorney’s Office. In June, Latorre pled guilty to pocketing $300,000 in “fictitious returns” from the hardware store Watkins Glen Supply between 2013 and 2020 and receiving $131,865 in public benefits.
Louis Latorre
Neither Latorre nor his wife reported the extra income—which investigators said was thousands every month—resulting in them receiving more than $125,000 in public benefits from the Department of Social Services.
Law enforcement was tipped off in 2020 when a security camera in the store caught Latorre putting cash in his pocket. DSS later notified the DA’s office that Latorre and his wife were likely committing the fraud.
Latorre was originally arrested in November 2020 for the theft. Almost a year later in October 2021, he and Kimberley Latorre were arrested for failing to report their income and receiving the $131,865 in benefits from Social Services.
Note: Kimberly Latorre awaits trial and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
(Photo from Finger Lakes Daily News)