This article shall be known and may be cited
and referred to as the "Albany Traffic Court Act."
The Court of Special Sessions in the City of
Albany is hereby abolished. All of the jurisdiction, powers and duties
of such Court and all of the jurisdiction, powers and duties now or
hereafter conferred or imposed upon courts of special sessions generally
are hereby transferred to and shall hereafter be conferred and imposed
upon and exercised and performed by the Police Court of the City of
Albany and the Police Justice holding such Court.
There is hereby created and established in and
for the City of Albany a court, to be known as the "Traffic Court
of Albany," to be held by the Recorder of the City of Albany and to
have and exercise the jurisdiction conferred by this article or hereafter
conferred by law.
The Recorder of the City of Albany shall preside
at and hold and conduct all sessions of the Court created by this
article. The office of Recorder of the City of Albany, continued by
Chapter 378 of the Laws of 1903, is hereby continued with the powers
and duties prescribed by this article and those now conferred or imposed
upon it or the person holding such office by laws not repealed by
this article and with such other powers and duties as may hereafter
be conferred or imposed upon it or such person by law. The Recorder
shall hold his office for a term of four (4) years. The term of the
present incumbent of such office shall expire on the 31st day of December
1939, and his successor shall be elected at the general election to
be held in November 1939. No person shall be eligible for election
or appointment to the office of Recorder unless he be a qualified
elector of the City of Albany and unless he has been an attorney and
counselor at law duly licensed to practice in the courts of record
of this state for at least five (5) years. The Recorder shall receive
such salary from the City of Albany as may be fixed by the Board of
Estimate and Apportionment of such City. Until fixed as herein provided,
the Recorder shall continue to receive such salary and in such manner
as is now provided by law. In case of absence from the City, illness
or other disability of the Recorder or during a vacancy in the office,
the Police Justice of the City of Albany shall act as the Recorder
until the Recorder returns, the disability ceases, or the vacancy
is filled. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of Recorder
of the City of Albany for any reason or cause, such vacancy shall
be filled at the next City election happening not less than thirty
(30) days following the occurrence of such vacancy, and the person
so elected shall hold office for the full term of four (4) years;
provided, however, that until the first day of January subsequent
to said election, said vacancy shall be filled by the appointment
of some qualified and competent person by the Mayor of the City of
Albany.
The Court hereby created shall have exclusive
jurisdiction of all such offenses, committed within the City of Albany,
as are now or hereafter may be defined by the Vehicle and Traffic
Law or by ordinance or local law as traffic infractions and the same
power as the Police Justice of the City of Albany heretofore had to
try and determine such offenses and to punish therefor. The practice
and procedure in the Traffic Court shall, except as otherwise expressly
provided by this article, be the same as that now or hereafter existing
in the Police Court of the City of Albany and all provisions of law
relating to the Police Court of the City of Albany, and the practice
and procedure therein so far as the same are or can be made applicable
and are not inconsistent with the provisions of this article, shall
apply to the Court hereby created and to the practice and procedure
therein. For the purposes of this article, the Recorder shall have
the same powers as the Police Justice of the City of Albany, including
the power to punish for contempt, and the Recorder, the Clerk of the
Court and the Deputy Clerk, if any, shall have the power to take informations
for the arrest of persons charged with the commission of traffic infractions
as hereinbefore specified, to issue and sign subpoenas, to administer
oaths to witnesses, to make and sign executions, commitments and certificates
of conviction and to certify to and sign copies thereof for the execution
of any judgment rendered in the Court.
All trials in the Court hereby created shall
be conducted by the Court.
The Traffic Court of Albany shall be held within
the City of Albany in suitable quarters to be designated and provided
by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the City of Albany.
The Court shall be open for the transaction of business daily, and
the sessions of the Court shall be held as frequently as the business
of the Court may require and at such times as may be designated by
the Recorder.
The Recorder may appoint a Clerk of the Court
and such other deputies, assistants and employees as the Board of
Estimate and Apportionment may designate and provide for. The compensation
of the Clerk and of any other employees shall be fixed by the Board
of Estimate and Apportionment. It shall be the duty of the Chief of
Police of the City of Albany to designate one (1) or more persons
under his jurisdiction, from time to time as may be required by the
Recorder, to perform such services as attendants of the Court as the
Recorder may assign and prescribe. No such person shall receive additional
compensation for any services rendered under such designation.
The Court shall keep a docket of all cases brought
before it showing the disposition thereof and such other records of
the business of the Court as the Board of Estimate and Apportionment
may require. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall furnish
or provide moneys for the Recorder to purchase, for the use of the
Court, such dockets, records, blanks, papers, books and stationery
as may be necessary for the conduct of the work of the Court.
The Clerk of the Court shall receive all fees,
fines and penalties assessed and payable in the Court and they shall
be paid over by the Clerk in the same manner and at the same time
as fines and penalties assessed in traffic infraction cases heretofore
arising in the Police Court of the City of Albany. The Clerk and the
Deputy Clerk, if any, before entering upon the discharge of the duties
of their respective offices, shall each execute and file with the
City Clerk of Albany an official undertaking in such penal sum as
may be prescribed by the Common Council of the City of Albany.
This article shall take effect immediately.
