Opinion 93-30
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This
opinion represents the views of the Office of the State
Comptroller at the time it was rendered. The opinion may no
longer represent those views if, among other things, there have
been subsequent court cases or statutory amendments that bear on
the issues discussed in the opinion. |
COUNTIES -- Powers and Duties (liability for the cost of
transportation to county jail)
COUNTY SHERIFF -- Powers and Duties (transportation of
individual after arraignment)
VILLAGES -- Powers and Duties (liability for the cost of
transportation to county jail)
CORRECTION LAW, §500-c; COUNTY LAW, §657-a: If, after an
individual is arraigned by the village justice court and
committed by order of the court to the custody of the county
sheriff, a village transports the individual to the county jail
because the sheriff is unable to do so, the cost of the
transportation is a county charge.
You ask whether the cost incurred by a village in
transporting an individual from a village justice court to a
county jail, after the individual has been arraigned in village
justice court and committed by the village justice to the
custody of the county sheriff, is a charge of the village or
the county.
With certain exceptions, Correction Law, §500-c provides
that each sheriff "shall receive and safely keep, in the county
jail of his county, every person lawfully committed to his
custody ..." Further, it is well-established that a sheriff is
responsible for transporting prisoners lawfully committed to
the sheriff's custody by a local criminal court unless the
court delegates the responsibility to another officer (City of
Newburgh v County of Orange, 85 AD2d 591, 444 NYS2d 713; City
of Poughkeepsie v County of Dutchess, 88 AD2d 964, 451 NYS2d
816; see Village of Walden v County of Orange, Supreme Court,
Orange County, Slifkin, J., Nov. 12, 1980 affd 85 AD2d 600, 444
NYS2d 699; Matter of Delaney, 75 AD2d 692, 427 NYS2d 284 lv den
51 NY2d 707 433 NYS2d 1028). Absent such delegation, if a
village provides transportation because the sheriff is unable
or unwilling to do so, it is also well-established that the
cost is a county charge for which the village is entitled to be
reimbursed (Village of Walden, supra; 33 Opns St Comp, 1977,
p 126; see City of Newburgh, supra; City of Poughkeepsie,
supra; County Law, §657-a).
The case of Village of Walden, supra, specifically
concerned post-arraignment transportation of prisoners from
village justice courts to the county jail. In that case,
because the sheriff's department was unable to provide the
transportation, village police officers had transported the
prisoners to county jail, after arraignment before a village
justice and the signing of orders of the court committing the
prisoners to the custody of the sheriff. It was held that,
since the responsibility of transportation was that of the
sheriff, the cost must be borne by the county, and the village
was entitled to reimbursement from the county. It is our
opinion that the Village of Walden case is dispositive of your
question.
In reaching this conclusion, we recognize that there is
language in a lower court case decided after Village of Walden,
supra to the effect that the cost of a town's transportation of
a defendant from an arraignment to the county jail "would not
be a proper County charge, since actual physical custody in
compliance with an order of commitment had not occurred
pursuant to the Sheriff's statutory mandate" (Town of
Poughkeepsie v County of Dutchess, 129 Misc 2d 312, 315-6, 492
NYS2d 1009, 1013; emphasis added). It is our opinion, however,
that Town of Poughkeepsie, supra is not the controlling
precedent here.
It is clear that the sheriff in the Village of Walden,
supra case, as in Town of Poughkeepsie, supra, did not have
physical custody of the prisoners in a post-arraignment
situation since, as noted, the village transported the
prisoners because the sheriff's department was unable to do so.
The Appellate Division, nonetheless, affirmed the lower court's
decision that the county was responsible for the cost of
transportation. Village of Walden, supra, was cited favorably
in City of Poughkeepsie, supra, in support of the holding that
a county sheriff has primary responsibility for transportation
of prisoners between a city court and the county jail (see also
1990 Atty Gen Opn No. I90-65; 1977 Atty Gen [Inf Opns] 280;
Criminal Procedure Law, §§205.00[2], 500.10[4]). Thus, to the
extent the Town of Poughkeepsie, supra case may be read to
apply to the instant situation, we believe it is against the
weight of authority
Accordingly, it is our opinion that if, after an individual
is arraigned by the village justice court and committed by
order of the court to the custody of the county sheriff, a
village transports the individual to the county jail because
the sheriff is unable to do so, the cost of the transportation
is a county charge.
December 7, 1993
Elizabeth Newman, Esq., County Attorney
County of Chautauqua
Samuel L. Drayo, Jr., Esq., Village Attorney
Village of Fredonia
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