Cayuga County lawmakers are considering a regional approach to assigned counsel services with Seneca County as the Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office and 911 center continue dealing with staffing and workload pressures.
The Judicial and Public Safety Committee spent much of its Sept. 9 meeting on public defense, jail overtime, an unusually high number of criminal appeals and new hiring needs across emergency communications and law enforcement.
Cayuga, Seneca could share assigned counsel services
Senior staff from the state Office of Indigent Legal Services told lawmakers that Cayuga County could eventually administer assigned counsel services for both Cayuga and Seneca counties under an agreement between the two governments.
Under the concept, each county would continue to receive its own state funding and remain responsible for meeting its public defense obligations, but Cayuga County would oversee the combined assigned counsel operation.
State officials said the regional model could strengthen oversight and make better use of money already available to both counties.
Seneca County operates a public defender’s office and uses assigned counsel primarily in cases where conflicts prevent the public defender from providing representation. Because that results in a smaller assigned counsel caseload, state officials said building a separate administrative structure in Seneca County may be less efficient than joining Cayuga County’s existing program.
Cayuga Assigned Counsel Administrator Lloyd Hoskins said discussions about working with Seneca County date back several years and that he supports moving the idea forward.
The state is also encouraging Cayuga County to make additional improvements to its own assigned counsel operation using money already available through existing contracts.
Those improvements include an electronic case management system, a data officer and a Family Court resource attorney.
The data officer would help oversee case information, attorney vouchers and reporting requirements, while the resource attorney would support lawyers handling Family Court assignments and help manage qualification, training and court-related issues.
State officials said funding is already available for those initiatives, meaning Cayuga County would not need to seek a new state award to begin implementing them.
Lawmakers did raise concerns about longer-term employee costs if new county positions are created. State officials said salary and fringe benefits can be covered through the program, but acknowledged that legacy costs remain a more complicated issue requiring additional discussion.
Cayuga County’s assigned counsel program handled 58 centralized arraignments in August. The office also reported 52 counsel-at-first-appearance cases in Auburn City Court and 10 more in town and village courts.
The county has also been notified that its next three-year Indigent Legal Services distribution contract will total $580,008. The funding reimburses the county for several public defense-related programs and complex cases.
Sheriff says jail overtime problem will continue
Sheriff Brian Schenck told lawmakers the Cayuga County jail population is beginning to increase again, potentially creating additional staffing demands.
The jail was holding 128 incarcerated people when the department prepared its monthly report, including 11 federal board-ins, one local board-in, 18 state parolees detained on new charges and two parolees being held for violations.
The county has also brought its female incarcerated population back to the local jail after previously housing some individuals elsewhere because of staffing limitations.
Schenck said that arrangement remains vulnerable. A constant-watch assignment or hospital detail involving a female incarcerated person could again force the county to board people outside Cayuga County.
The department is also watching the overall inmate count closely.
Schenck said the jail may eventually have to reopen a dormitory that has been closed as part of efforts to control overtime. Reopening it would require two additional correction officers per shift.
For now, the dorm remains closed.
Staffing shortages are already driving significant overtime spending. The committee advanced a $155,000 internal budget transfer to keep the jail overtime account funded.
The proposal would move $100,000 from road patrol salaries, where vacancies have generated savings; $30,000 from road patrol health insurance; and $25,000 from building maintenance.
Schenck said that should cover overtime through the end of September, but warned there may be little remaining elsewhere in his budget to continue shifting money.
He said the department will likely have to return to lawmakers in October to discuss how to cover overtime for the rest of the year.
District attorney flags unusually high appeals workload
District Attorney Brittany Antonacci told lawmakers her office is handling far more criminal appeals than she would expect for a county of Cayuga’s size.
Antonacci said the office has averaged about 40 appeals per year over roughly the last five years.
After comparing Cayuga County with district attorney offices elsewhere in New York, she said some larger counties with larger populations are handling substantially fewer appeals.
The volume has become significant enough that she has assigned one full-time prosecutor to appellate work.
Antonacci said she has not determined why the county generates so many appeals. One possible factor, she said, is that defendants are routinely filing notices of appeal, but she cautioned that she does not know whether that explains the full difference.
She estimated about 97% of the convictions challenged through those appeals have ultimately been upheld.
The workload comes during an unusually busy period for the office overall.
Antonacci reported 32 grand jury indictments in August after 28 in July. Another 13 had already been recorded in September when the report was prepared.
The office has completed five felony jury trials and one felony bench trial so far this year. Antonacci said four felony jury trials would be closer to a normal full-year total.
911 center moves toward staffing changes
The committee was also introduced to Ben Guzalak, who was identified as the selected candidate to become Cayuga County’s next 911 director pending approval by the Legislature.
The committee advanced creation of two Emergency Services Dispatcher positions under New York’s Hiring Emergency Limited Placement program.
The HELP program allows qualifying positions to be filled without applicants first taking a competitive Civil Service examination and appearing on an eligible list.
The positions are intended to address vacancies connected to a resignation and a September retirement.
Officials also reported another resignation involving a supervisor-trainer, creating an additional staffing hole the department will have to fill.
Three dispatcher trainees have started on-the-floor call-taker training, while three employees are working toward emergency services dispatcher trainer certification.
The department is also preparing for a new Motorola Vesta telephone system, with site visits planned in Cayuga and Oswego counties later this month.
Southern Cayuga school officer advances
The committee supported creating a Special Patrol Officer position for the Southern Cayuga Central School District.
The position would be employed through the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office and assigned to the district for school resource officer services.
Schenck said it would be the first Special Patrol Officer assigned through the county to Southern Cayuga.
The position would pay $30 per hour, but the school district would reimburse Cayuga County for salary, fringe benefits and equipment costs.
The committee also advanced two Probation Department grants: $90,800 through the state Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative and $12,840 through the Statewide Targeted Reductions in Intimate Partner Violence program.
The STRIVE money is expected to support staffing, GPS monitoring and training.
The public safety resolutions will continue through the county’s committee process before final consideration by the full Cayuga County Legislature.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.