Referred to: The Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee (Chairwoman Hansut and Legislators Hewitt, Fabiano, and Uchitelle), and The Ways and Means Committee (Chairman Gavaris and Legislators Cahill, Criswell, Roberts, and Ronk)

Chairwoman of the Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee, Gina Hansut, and Deputy Chair Chris Hewitt offer the following:

WHEREAS, this resolution has been submitted at the request of the District Attorney; and

          WHEREAS, Ulster County has been awarded funding up to the amount of $789,318.00 by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to support local law enforcement and prosecutorial entities with expenses related to the implementation of discovery and pretrial reforms for the term of April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023; and

WHEREAS, the maximum award amount has been determined based on the prorated share of criminal court arraignments statewide; and

WHEREAS, the District Attorney’s Office has budgeted $500,000.00 in revenue for this grant source in fiscal year 2023; and

WHEREAS, no additional budget appropriations are required; and

WHEREAS, in response to Discovery Reform legislation that took effect in 2020, in 2021 the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office established a “Discovery and Records Unit” to facilitate automatic and accelerated discovery in felony and misdemeanor cases as mandated by Criminal Procedure Law 245; and

WHEREAS, the proposed 2022-2023 Discovery Reform Funding Plan primarily reimburses the County for the cost of the Discovery and Records Unit, as well as discovery-related expenses incurred by the Sheriff’s Office; and

WHEREAS, the District Attorney has requested that the Chair of the Ulster County Legislature be authorized to enter into an agreement with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services for the purpose of Ulster County’s participation in the Criminal Justice Discovery Reform Grant, for the period April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Chair of the Ulster County Legislature, or her designee, is hereby authorized to enter into an agreement, and any amendments thereto, with the Division of Criminal Justice Services for the purpose of Ulster County’s participation in the Criminal Justice Discovery Reform Grant, for the period April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023, in the form as filed with the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature or as modified with the approval of the County Attorney,

and move its adoption.

ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

AYES:                    NOES:    

Passed Committee: Law Enforcement and Public Safety on ______________.

Passed Committee: Ways and Means on ______________.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

$789,318.00 –2023 STATE REVENUE DOLLARS