Broome Starts Arraigning Suspects in Central Location
Not having to tote suspects to several different locations between their apprehension and either locked up or released to wait for a date in court should save municipalities money.
Most arraignments in Broome County will now take place in a centralized location right at the Broome County Correctional Facility.
The one central location cuts down on wait time for a defendant to be paired with legal counsel and for a judge to be available for one of the municipal courts. Fewer police officers will be needed for transporting prisoners to courtrooms, holding cells and jail. The arraignments will also be very predictable with judges and public defenders set for the proceedings at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily.
The City of Binghamton will continue to have its arraignments in City Court, which, like the City Police Station is located in City Hall.
The Central Arraignment system was set up under a measure recently signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The legislation was locally sponsored by Democrat Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and Republican State Senator Fred Akshar.