Justice Court

The Town Court handles both, Civil and Criminal cases, which deal directly with issues affecting most citizens. The Town Court has criminal jurisdiction over misdemeanor offenses, (crimes which are punishable by up to 364 days in jail), as well as Vehicle & Traffic, Town Code and criminal offenses defined in other areas of the law. This Court also has jurisdiction over felony cases, for the purposes of conducting an arraignment, setting bail or conducting a preliminary hearing. Once the matter is held for the action of the Rockland County Grand Jury, after the preliminary hearing, the Court is divested of jurisdiction and the case is transferred to the County Court for further proceedings including trial.

A Drug Court which began in Clarkstown and is now located in Rockland County, is a specially designated Court in which a range of services and sanctions are utilized to reduce drug abuse and recidivism among non-violent, drug-addicted offenders. Drug Court programs bring the full weight of intervenors (the judge, probation officers, correctional and law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, defense counsel, drug-testing personnel, rehabilitation and treatment specialists, educators, etc.) to bear, forcing the offender to deal with his or her drug abuse problem or suffer the consequences. Read More…

The Court handles Landlord-Tenant cases where Landlord sues to evict a tenant and the monetary jurisdiction is unlimited, The property at issue must be within the Town boundaries.

The Clarkstown Small Claims Court is a special part of the Justice Court, that is designed primarily for use by laymen. Some of the technical rules of evidence and procedure are not strictly applicable in Small Claims Court. However, certain of these rules and others are applicable and are contained on this site. It is extremely important that you read this material in its entirety before commencing a small claim and trying to present your case in small claims court. Read More…

The Court handles all Vehicle & Traffic cases including Driving While Intoxicated offenses.