Law Offices of Glenn W. Magnell
Criminal, DWI & Vehicle Law Defense Attorney
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Continental Rd, Cornwall, NY 12518 Phone: 845-725-7935
162 Main Street, Goshen, NY 10924 Phone: 845-294-0585
Title: Town of Wallkill Justice Court
County: Orange
Address: 99 Tower Dr., Bldg B, Middletown, NY 10941
Phone:
(845) 692-7822
Fax:
Court Calendar: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday
Traffic Tickets:
Prosecuted by Special Town Prosecutor (State Police) or local officers.
Criminal Prosecutions: Orange County District Attorney's
Office
Judges: Justice Joseph Owen & Justice Patrick Owen
Wallkill, NY Town Court
Traffic Enforcement
The Town of Wallkillis a large suburban town surrounding the north side of the city of Middletown.
Two major highways (I-84 & Route 17) pass through extensive sections of the town. In addition, several very busy local roads
(Rt. 211) also have relatively long swaths through the Town of Wallkill. The speed limit on I-84 is 65 mph throughout Wallkill,
while Route 17 is 55 mph in the town, though extensive roadwork on Rt. 17 creates regular workzone speed limits of 55 mph..
Speed limits on local roads vary from 45 mph to 30 mph on roads through heavily developed sections of Route 211. Traffic
enforcement on both I-84 and Route 17 is handled almost exclusively by NYS Police troopers. The "Trooper F" headquarters
is located in Middletown and state police regularly transit roads nearby on their way to or from the HQ. Local traffic
law enforcement is handled by both NYS troopers and Wallkill Town police officers (some Wallkill officers are
dedicated to traffic enforcement). Traffic enforcement through the main business districts is intense at times.
Traffic
Court
The Town of Wallkill has the busiest traffic court in the Hudson Valley. 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 generally reasonable
about plea bargains as long as the speed was not more than 25 mph over the limit and not over 90 mph.
Local police officers somtimes
prosecute their own tickets, though the special prosecutor generally substitutes for them. Again, most tickets are resolved through
plea bargains. Both judges move their traffic calendars along at a good rate, but the volume of cases means that traffic court
sessions can easily last 2-3 hours. Attorneys are permitted to appear without their clients being present for traffic court.
For
more information about speeding and other traffic offenses, click here
To read some Frequently Asked Traffic Law questions, click
here.
For information about having the Law Office of Glenn Magnell defend your speeding ticket or DWI charge, click here.
Criminal Law Enforcement and Prosecutions
All criminal prosecutions Wallkill are handled by the Orange County
District Attorney's Office. The DA's office takes a very hard line on DWI prosecutions. In 2009 there were more than
1800 alcohol related driving arrests for impaired or intoxicated driving (DWI, DWAI, DWAI-D) in Orange County. Both the
NYS Police and the Wallkill 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 have
been occassionaly been established by the a combined task force of NYS Police and local police. All of these
offenses are "criminal" violations of the law and, as a result are prosecuted by the Orange County District Attorney's office.
Police have been known to observe and follow patrons leaving local bars and make traffic stops at the first opportunity.
Because
the Town of Wallkill is adjacent to the City of Middletown a variety of drug offenses are regularly brought before the town
court. Other typical criminal cases heard in Wallkill Town Court are petty larceny, 3rd degree assault, harrassment
and Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Vehicle. Misdemeanors remain the jurisdiction of the town court, while felonies
are transferred to the Orange County Court if there is a felony indictment by the Grand Jury. Wallkill
Town Court is one of the busiest local criminal courts, the criminal calendar can last 3-4 hours.
For
more information about DWI, click here.
To read some Frequently Asked Questions about DWI, click here.
For information
about having the Law Office of Glenn Magnell represent you on your ticket or DWI charge,, click here.
View Wallkill, NY Town Court in a larger map