The Village of Elmsford has no sitting judges after its last remaining judge, Jay Bielat, abruptly resigned Friday.
Bielat had served as the village’s chief justice for just a year, after winning a write-in election to fill a vacancy left by the departure of Justice Carlos Gonzalez, who was removed from the bench by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct in 2022. Gonzalez was accused of dealing badly with cases as a private lawyer.
In his resignation letter, Bielat did not explain the reason for his decision to leave the bench. The village’s only other judge, Alphonse Naclerio, could no longer serve after Mayor Robert Williams refused to reappoint him to the position at the village’s annual reorganization meeting last month. In Elmsford, one of the judicial seats is appointed while the other is elected.
Milena Din, the court clerk, said operations would continue as normal as the 9th Judicial District would send a judge to the court to preside over pending matters in the interim. Judge Virginia Collins, who sits on the bench in Pleasantville, is expected to be sent to Elmsford to help maintain continuity.
“It will continue, because I guarantee it will continue,” Din said. “We make sure things happen and keep going, and that people get the court time they should get.”
Din has also worked with nearby jurisdictions to ensure that individuals detained by Elmsford police can be prosecuted and have their cases heard promptly.
Asher Stockler is a reporter for The Journal News and USA Today Network New York. You can email him at astockler@lohud.com. Contact him securely: asher.stockler@protonmail.com.
This article originally appeared in the Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Elmsford’s last judge resigns, leaving the village without judges
