Kathy Hochul

Governor
Patricia J. Warth
Director
Burton Phillips
Counsel

June 9, 2023

Transmitted Via Email

Ryan McMahon
Onondaga County Executive
John H. Mulroy Civic Center, 14th Floor
421 Montgomery St.
Syracuse, NY 13202
RyanMcMahon@ongov.net

Tobias Shelley
Onondaga County Sheriff
Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department
407 S. State St.
Syracuse, NY 13202
TobiasShelley@ongov.net

Re: Hurrell-Harring v. State of New York Settlement:

Onondaga County’s Ongoing Failure to Comply

Dear County Executive McMahon and Sheriff Shelley:

I am writing to follow-up on the letter I sent on November 17, 2022 alerting you to Onondaga
County’s failure to comply with a key provision of the Hurrell-Harring v. State of New York
Settlement (“HH Settlement”), which Onondaga County signed in October 2014. Pursuant to the HH
Settlement, Onondaga County is, among other things, required to ensure that all people arrested for a
criminal offense are represented by defense counsel at their arraignment. Moreover, § III(A)(2) of the
HH Settlement specifically requires in-person representation at these arraignments.1 The New York
State Office of Indigent Legal Services (ILS) is required to monitor HH Settlement implementation
and disburse State funds to Onondaga County for its implementation.

Until early 2020, Onondaga County was in full compliance with the HH Settlement’s requirements that
people arrested for a criminal offense are represented in-person at their arraignment. Between March
2020 and June 2021, in response to the Covid-19 public health crisis, Governor Cuomo issued
Executive Orders authorizing arraignments to be conducted virtually. However, in June 2021, as the
worst effects of the pandemic waned, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 210 which rescinded
these previous Executive Orders. Onondaga County returned to in-person arraignments in the town and
village courts and the evening session of the Centralized Arraignment Part (“CAP”), but not the CAP
session conducted in Syracuse City Court, where a significant number of virtual arraignments are
conducted each day, violating both the HH Settlement and Executive Law § 832(4)(a).

1
Notably, this provision of the HH Settlement has been codified in Executive Law § 832(4)(a).
It is our understanding that the failure to return to in-person arraignments is a result of a staffing
shortage at the Onondaga County Justice Center, rendering staff unavailable to transport people to
Syracuse City Court morning arraignments. In December 2022, we met with County officials and were
told that the County intends to resolve the staffing shortage by closing the Onondaga County
Correctional Facility and merging its functions and staff with the Justice Center. We were also assured
that the County would work to expedite the merger to comply with the HH Settlement.

While we appreciate the steps that the County has taken to implement the merger, we remain
concerned that it will not occur any time soon. According to a June 6, 2023 Syracuse Post-Standard
article, the proposed merger has been delayed for months, and recently Sheriff Shelley filed a lawsuit
challenging it. This lawsuit will likely further delay the merger or halt it altogether. To our knowledge,
despite the barriers to the proposed merger, there has been no discussion of alternative solutions.

It has now been almost two full years that Onondaga County has been out of compliance with both the
HH Settlement and Executive Law § 832(4)(a). Given the reality that the proposed merger is not going
to occur soon if at all, it is incumbent on Onondaga County officials to find other solutions to the
ongoing failure to conduct in-person arraignments in Syracuse City Court. We urge you to take
immediate steps to do so.

I look forward to your prompt response to this letter. As always, I would be happy to meet to discuss
this issue further and can be reached by phone at (518) 603-0851 or by email at
patricia.warth@ils.ny.gov.

Sincerely,

Patricia J. Warth
Director

Cc: Ann Rooney, Deputy County Executive for Human Services

Robert Durr, County Attorney
Benjamin Yaus, Chief Deputy County Attorney
Kathleen Dougherty, Executive Director, Onondaga County Assigned Counsel Program
Nora Christenson, Hurrell-Harring Settlement Implementation Unit Chief, ILS