Upstate Court Directories

Title
Shandaken Town Court
County
Ulster
Address
7209 Route 28, Shandaken, NY 12480
Phone
(845) 688-5005
Fax
845- 688-6348
Traffic Calendar
Tuesdays & Thursdays
Criminal Calendar
Thursdays
Traffic Tickets
Prosecuted by officer who wrote the ticket
Criminal Prosecutions
Ulster County District Attorney's Office
Judges
Hon. Tom Crucet and Hon. Michael Miranda

Shandaken, NY Town Court Profile

Traffic Enforcement & Prosecution

The Town of Shandaken is mostly made up of rural highways without much traffic though Route 28 can be fairly heavily traveled in summer and during holidays. Traffic enforcement by local constables is inconsistent and many tickets written along Route 28 are by NYS troopers who patrol the road intensively.   Additional traffic enforcement is performed by the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office. There are no major highways to patrol, so enforcement is strictest in the most heavily populated areas. Speeding tickets are usually written for speeds more than 10 mph over the limit, except in lower speed zones. In addition, the police regularly look for miscellaneous vehicle and traffic violations to initiate traffic stops.

 

Traffic Court

The NYS Police are prohibited from negotiating plea bargains on traffic violations. Unfortunately, no special town prosecutor has been appointed to deal with tickets written by the NYS police. As such, Trooper tickets will likely have to go to trial, since they are unable to negotiate.

Local police officers generally prosecute their own tickets. Most tickets are resolved through plea bargains.

The wait to speak to speak to the officers is typically not very long. Less than a 1 hour wait is usual. 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 & Prosecution

All criminal prosecutions are handled by the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office. The Ulster DA’s office has taken a fairly hard line on DWI prosecutions. In 2010 there were almost 1,200 alcohol related driving arrests impaired or intoxicated driving (DWI, DWAI, DWAI-D) in Ulster County. Both the NYS Police and the Ulster County Sheriff’s Department made numerous arrests. Most arrests occurred after dark with many taking place after midnight. Police officers assume that many drivers 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 were established several times by state and local police.

In addition to DWI and DWAI, numerous arrests were made for Driving While Impaired by Drugs, Aggravated Unlicensed Operation and Driving With a Suspended Registration. All of these offenses are “criminal” violations of the law and, as a result are prosecuted by the Ulster County District Attorney’s office. The DA’s has a general rule that breath tests of .12% or more will not be reduced through plea bargains. However, this is not a hard and fast policy.

Both of the judges in Shandaken Town Court are attorneys.

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, click here.