For First Time Kiryas Joel To Set Up Courthouse After Write in Judges Win Palm Tree Elections

NEW YORK (VINnews) — The village of Palm Tree – Kiryas Joel will have its own courthouse for the first time, after the community voted in 2 judges via write-in.

The Times Herald Record reports, that Richard Croughan and Stephen Hunter enjoyed the endorsement of the Kiryas Joel community on the November 5th election, with Croughan receiving 683 votes and Hunter receiving 676, according to unofficial results.

Although there is a legal requirement that justices must live in the town that elects them, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office waived that requirement for this election, because no one from Palm Tree petitioned last year or this year to be a judge. By the time the law was waived, it was too late for Croughan and Hunter to officially get on the ballot, however the community wrote them in to victory anyway.

The Palm Tree court may not come to order until next summer, because there currently isn’t an available courtroom to service it. The town is considering building a small courthouse on land that Kiryas Joel owns off Larkin Drive in Monroe, which is currently being used as a park.

Croughan and Hunter will serve four-year terms as justices.