Owen, right, with a courtroom named for him
, congratulated by his son, Patrick, center, and Neuhaus
GOSHEN – Orange County government and court officials celebrated the reopening of the county government center’s division 3 courtrooms on Thursday. One of the courtrooms was dedicated to retired State Supreme Court Justices Joseph Owen and John McGuirk.
Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus said now that the courtrooms have been put back into uses, they wanted to dedicate the rooms to individuals, like Owen, who have had a longstanding career within the county.
“Now that the government center and the courthouses are back open for business, we decided to honor some of our judiciary members, like Judge Owen and Judge McGuirk, by naming courtrooms where they served as the presiding judge for many years and even decades,” said Neuhaus.
Owen and McGuirk were both Supreme Court Justices for the 9th Judicial District.
Owen, who was joined by his son Patrick for the dedication, was honored to have the very same courtroom he had spent so many years of his career in be named after him.
“I have a lot of fond memories,” Owen said. “I can recall many, many naturalization ceremonies that I conducted – new citizens coming in. New citizens coming and they all wanted to have their picture taken with me so I am sure there are a lot of pictures of me around the county.”
Justices from New York’s Appellate Division were present to see the dedication. Afterwards, they heard the first appellate court cases in Orange County since 2006, along with a continuing legal education program put on by the Orange County Bar Association.
