Title: Town of Ulster Justice Court

 

County: Ulster

 

Address: 1 Town Hall Drive, Lake Katrine, NY 12449

 

Phone:(845) 382-1737

 

Fax: (845) 382-1838

 

Court Calendar: Every Tuesday and Thursday

 

Traffic Tickets: Prosecuted by Special Town Prosecutor (State Police) or local officers.

 

Criminal Prosecutions: Westchester County District Attorney's Office

 

Judges: Justice Salvatore Lagonia & Justice Ilan Gilbert

 

 

The New York State Thruway runs the whole length of the Town of Ulster.  Enforcement on the Thruway is exclusively handled by officers from "Troop T" of the NYS Police (a special unit than only patrols the Thruway).  The speed limit along the Thruway is mostly 65 mph, howver there are extended sections in the south and west that are 55 mph.  Almost all speeding tickets are written for speeds more than 10 mph over the limit.  Stationary radar and laser speed detection are widely used.  The wide and often wooded median creates numerous opportunities for radar or laser speed traps that cannot be detected in advance.  Traffic law enforcement along all of the other roads in the Town of Ulster is handled by a combination of NYS Police, Ulster County Sheriff's and local town police officers.  Enforcement is intense on Rt. 28, particularly on the W/B section of the road going downhill towards Kingston (speed limit changes from 55 mph to 45 mph).

 

Traffic Court

 

Both town justices have "traffic calendars" which are devoted to adjudicating traffic tickets.  The NYS Police are prohibited from negotiating plea bargains on traffic violations.  As a result, a special town prosecutor has been appointed to deal with tickets written by the NYS police.  95% of state police tickets are adjudicated through plea bargains with the special prosecutor.  The Town Prosecutor and both judges are reasonable about plea bargains as long as the speed was not more than 25 mph over the limit or over 80 mph.

 

Local police officers generally prosecute their own tickets, though the special prosecutor may substitute for them.  Again, most tickets are resolved through plea bargains.

 

Traffic court sessions can last several hours.  Attorneys are permitted to appear without their clients being present for traffic court..

 

All criminal prosecutions are handled by the Ulster County District Attorney's Office.  Following a tragic 8 fatality accident on the Taconic in 2009 the Ulster DA's office has taken a very  hard line on DWI prosecutions.    In 2009 there were more than 1500 alcohol related driving arrests impaired or intoxicated cdriving (DWI, DWAI, DWAI-D) in Ulster County.  Both the NYS Police and the Ulster County Sheriff's office and Town Police made numerous arrests.  Most arrests occurred after dark with many taking place after midnight.  Police officers assume that many driver's who are out after midnight have consumed alcohol and or drugs.  As a result they are looking for any lawful reason to pull drivers over in order to investigate possible DWI incidents.  Alcohol checkpoints were established several times by the a combined task force of NYS Police and local  police agencies. 

 

All of these offenses are "criminal" violtions of the law and, as a result are prosecutred by the Ulster County District Attorney's office. 

 

For more information about DWI, click here. 

 

To read some Frequently Asked Questions about DWI, click here.