Traffic Enforcement
The Town of Wawayanda is a largely rural town located between the cities of Middletown and Port Jervis in Orange County, NY. I-84 passes through extensive sections of the town. In addition, several very busy local roads (Rt. 17M and Rt. 6)) also have relatively long swaths through the Town of Wawayanda. The speed limit on I-84 is 65 mph throughout Wawayanda, while Route 17M and Route 6 are largely 55 mph in the town, though the speed limit is reduced to 40 mph through business districts. Traffic enforcement on both I-84 is handled almost exclusively by NYS Police troopers. A state police barracks is located on Route 6, just west of the Town of Wawayanda, also the headquarters for “Troop F” 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 Wawayanda Town police officers. Traffic enforcement through the main business districts is intense at times.
Traffic Court
The Town of Wawayanda has one of the busier traffic courts in the Orange County, with most of the tickets written on I-84. 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 85 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 1-2 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 Wawayanda 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 Orange County Sheriff’s Dept. made numerous arrests in Wawayanda. 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 Wawayanda 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 Wawayanda 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. Wawayanda Town Court is one of the busiest local criminal courts, the criminal calendar can last 2-3 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.
