Broome First for Central Off-Hours Arraignments

Broome County officials say the location for centralized off-hours arraignments locally will be at the county jail.

New York State announced last week that four counties would be locating centralized arraignments, with Broome County becoming the first, in order to make sure a public defender is available for all suspects.

The current arraignments in municipal courts take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. with the central arraignments taking place at the jail 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

If the mandate for after-hours arraignments had fallen on the individual courts, County Executive Jason Garnar says there would have been an increased cost for the Public Defender’s Office and would have put a strain on law enforcement.