BILL NUMBER: S8418
SPONSOR: GIANARIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to judicial departments
 
PURPOSE:
Creates the fourteenth and fifteenth judicial districts, alters the
composition of the fifth, seventh, and eighth judicial districts as
heretofore constituted, and reapportions the justices thereof. This bill
is modeled off of Chapter 690 of the Laws of 2007, which created the
thirteenth judicial district.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Sections one and two amend sections 70 and 140 of the Judiciary Law to
create the fourteenth and fifteenth judicial districts and to alter the
composition of the fifth, seventh, and eighth judicial districts as
heretofore constituted.
Section three amends section 140-a of the Judiciary Law to add new
subdivisions fourteen and fifteen and to amend subdivisions five, seven,
and eight.
Section four relates to justices of the fifth, seventh, and eighth judi-
cial districts as heretofore constituted, and to the justices of the
fourteenth and fifteenth judicial districts as established by this act.
Section five relates to the intended object of this act: to erect in the
fourth judicial department the fourteenth and fifteenth judicial
districts, and to alter the composition and reapportion the justices of
the fifth, seventh, and eighth judicial districts as heretofore consti-
tuted.
Section six is a severability clause.
Section seven is the effective date.  
EXISTING LAW:
None.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The State Constitution authorizes the Legislature, once every ten years,
to "increase or decrease the number of judicial districts or alter the
composition of judicial districts and thereupon reapportion the justices
to be thereafter elected in the judicial districts so altered." The
Legislature last exercised this authority in 2007, when it established
the thirteenth judicial district in the county of Richmond. In the more
than ten years since then, a longstanding lack of diversity on the West-
ern New York bench has come into sharp focus. This bill aims to address
that inequality by establishing two new judicial districts in the fourth
judicial department.
As currently constituted, the districts of the fourth judicial depart-
ment combine urban centers with large rural communities. The demograph-
ics of the department correlate to the urban-rural divide. While over-
all the 4th Department contains a significant percent of people of
color, it is not reflected in the demographics of the bench. The three
most densely populated counties of the fourth department-Erie, Monroe,
and Onondaga- each contain over 25% people of color and represent 57% of
the department's total population. Despite representing the vast major-
ity of Black, Latino and Asian residents in the department, the Western
New York bench has suffered from a striking lack of justices represen-
tative of those communities. According to a 2024 demographic survey
reported by the Office of Court Administration-in which 42 of the 67
Supreme Court Justices in the Fourth Judicial Department responded-the
results are sobering: only 1 justice identified themselves as Black,
and zero identified as Asian or Hispanic in the entire department.
This bill is designed to remedy that inequality. It establishes judicial
districts for the three largest urban centers of Erie, Monroe, and Onon-
daga counties, and it creates two judicial districts for the depart-
ment's more rural counties. By doing so, the Legislature intends to
empower all of the citizens of the fourth judicial department to elect
Supreme Court justices that reflect and represent the region.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None. This legislation does not alter the number of judges, officers or
employees assigned to the districts.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately except that the provisions of
sections one through four shall take effect January 1, 2027.

Statutes affected:
S8418: 70 judiciary law, 140-a judiciary law