Since New York State passed a major bail law in 2019, the day-to-day court operations at Otsego County have been turned upside down, according to district attorney John Muehl.
On some days, 20 cases could be scheduled on a city court’s calendar and only five defendants would show up. The rate of failure to appear in court has increased almost tenfold, Muehl said.
The 2019 bail law eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, including most drug trafficking offenses. In those cases, defendants will be released without paying any money, sometimes on supervised conditions such as electronic monitoring.
“Our drug dealers come from New York City, Albany, or Utica, and they have no ties to our community whatsoever. After they were released, they just never came back to court,” Muehl said.
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