§ 106-a. Reducing number of justices in adjacent towns.

1. The town boards of two or more towns that form a contiguous
geographic area within the same county are hereby authorized to
establish a single town court to be comprised of town justices to be
elected from each of such towns in the same manner and for the same
terms as town justices are so elected except that the number of such
terms expiring in any one year may not exceed by more than one the
number of terms expiring in any other year in which terms expire;
provided, however, the town boards of the towns of Erin and Chemung in
Chemung county are hereby authorized to establish a single town court in
accordance with the provisions of this section. The procedure to
establish such single court may be initiated by the town board or may be
initiated by petition. In the event the procedure is initiated by
petition, the petition shall be addressed to each town board and shall
be signed by at least twenty percent of the registered voters in such
towns.

2. The petition shall be made upon white paper containing the
signatures of qualified electors of each town. The sheets of such a
petition shall be numbered consecutively, beginning with number one, at
the foot of each sheet. Such petition must set forth in every instance
the correct date of signing, the full name of the signer and his or her
present residence. A signer need not himself or herself fill in the date
or residence.

Each sheet of such petition shall be signed in ink and shall be
substantially in the following form:

To the Town Boards of the Towns of ................. and .............
County of ................ State of New York.

We, the undersigned, duly qualified electors of the towns of
............... and ................. respectfully petition each town
board to reduce the number of justices in each town to one justice and
provide for the extension of the geographic jurisdiction of such
justices to include the area of such towns and also to provide for an
orderly transition subject to the approval of the electors of each town
as authorized by law.

Date Signature Residence
.........................................................................
.........................................................................
.........................................................................
.........................................................................

Statement of Witness:

I.............state: I am over the age of eighteen years and now
reside at...................(residence, address, or post office address
if not identical) in the Town of.................in the State of New
York, County of................Each of the electors whose names are
subscribed to this petition sheet containing..................(fill in
number) signatures, subscribed his or her name in my presence.

I understand that this statement will be accepted for all purposes as
the equivalent of an affidavit and, if it contains a material false
statement, shall subject me to the same penalties as if I had been duly
sworn.
.........................................................................

Date Signature of Witness

3. Such petition shall be filed in the office of the town clerk of one
of such towns and a certified copy shall be filed in the office of the
town clerk of the other town or towns.

4. Any town board may adopt a resolution calling for the reduction of
the number of justices in the town and in one or more towns that form a
contiguous geographic area. The filing of such original resolution shall
have the same effect as the filing of a petition as authorized by this
section and the clerk in whose office such resolution was filed shall
proceed in the same manner as if such resolution was a duly filed
petition. A certified copy of such resolution shall be filed in the
office of the town clerk of the other town or towns.

5. Within thirty days after such petition or resolution and the
certified copies thereof are filed the town clerk of the town in which
the original petition or resolution was filed shall cause a notice to be
published once in the official newspaper of each town, or, if there be
no official newspaper, in a newspaper published in the county and having
general circulation within the area of each town. Such notice shall
state that the petition or resolution has been received and that at a
specified time not less than twenty days nor more than forty days after
the publication of such notice, which place and dates shall be specified
therein, a joint hearing will be held upon such petition or resolution
by such town boards.

6. The town boards of such towns shall meet at the time and place
specified in such notice. The members of the participating boards shall
agree on the selection of one of their members to preside at such
meeting and in the event no such agreement is reached, he or she shall
be chosen by lot. Such town boards shall hear testimony and receive
evidence and information which may be presented concerning the petition
or resolution to establish a single town court.

7. Within sixty days after the hearing held pursuant to subdivision
six of this section the town boards of such adjacent towns shall
determine whether or not such petition or resolution shall be approved.
In the event one town board disapproves or rejects such petition or
resolution, all proceedings under this section shall terminate and the
existing court system in such adjacent towns shall continue to the same
extent as if no such petition or resolution had been filed.

8. In the event that each respective town board approves such
resolution or petition, such boards shall prepare a joint resolution
which shall provide that the office of one justice in each town shall be
abolished and that the remaining justice in each town shall have
jurisdiction in each town to the same extent as if each such justice was
elected in each town. Such joint resolution shall provide for the
election of at least one town justice every two years but in no case
shall the number of terms expiring in any one year exceed by more than
one the number of terms expiring in any other year in which terms
expire, and shall identify each justice whose office shall be abolished,
and shall identify each justice whose office shall be continued.

9. In the event no agreement can be reached as to which offices shall
be abolished, the offices to be abolished by such resolution shall be
chosen from each of the offices of town justice by lot. However in no
case shall an office be chosen by lot to be abolished that would cause
the remaining offices to violate the requirements of subdivision eight
of this section.

10. Such joint resolution shall be submitted to the electors of each
town at the next general election occurring more than sixty days after
the final determination of the language of such resolution.

11. If such resolution is approved by a majority of the qualified
persons voting thereon in each town such resolution shall be deemed to
be adopted and the plan to establish a single town court shall be
implemented in the manner provided in such resolution. If such
resolution is disapproved by a majority of the qualified persons voting
thereon in one or more towns, such resolution shall be defeated and no
further action shall be taken to implement such plan.

12. Any town justice continuing in office pursuant to such plan and
any town justice hereafter elected pursuant to the plan established in
such resolution shall have jurisdiction in each town in the contiguous
geographic area to the same extent and effect as if such town justice
were elected in each such town.

13. Each town justice exercising jurisdiction in accordance with this
section shall keep a separate set of records and dockets for each town
in which he or she exercises jurisdiction and such justice shall also
maintain a separate bank account for each town for the deposit of moneys
received when exercising jurisdiction in each town.