Monroe appoints new village judges

Monroe — The Monroe Village Board appointed two justices to its reconstituted court this week, to oversee the crime and punishment that has been handled by the town court since the 1980s. The village reinstituted its own justice court, Mayor John Karl III said, because of past problems with revenue sharing received from fines between the town and village and the availability of town justices for night arraignments. The board appointed Monroe village resident Forrest Strauss as village justice until a March 2008 election is held. Strauss said he will run in 2008 to continue in the four-year term of office. He is currently a principal attorney on the Grievance Committee of the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court. Strauss previously worked as a district attorney in Brooklyn. He anticipates the new court will begin holding session sometime in August in Village Hall. The job has a salary of $16,000. Monroe resident Lawrence H. Lezak was appointed as acting justice to address court issues when Strauss is unavailable. He is a retired director of law for the Water Front Commission, New York Harbor. Previously, he was special U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York and New Jersey. The acting village justices carries a salary of $5,500. The board has also approved the creation of two part-time clerks for the court. According to Village Attorney Benjamin Ostrer, tickets, court fees and related items generated $601,000 in gross revenues for the town court in 2004. He also said that Monroe Village Police are responsible for 40 to 50 percent of tickets. Ostrer said the town received $252,000 and the village received $2,900 from court-related revenues in 2004.