MONTICELLO – With less than a month to go before the election, opponents in the race for Sullivan County District Attorney are arguing about who can do more about law and order.
Frank LaBuda, the Republican nominee, is facing the Meagan Galligan, the Democratic nominee and the Acting DA. And LaBuda accused Galligan Wednesday of not doing enough with a $1.8 million budget and eight assistant district attorneys.
“We have a decreasing number of indictments with an increasing backlog. And I am going to change that,” he said.
Galligan said her office handles about 3,000 cases a year and that from 2009-2018, violent felony arrests are down about 37 percent and felony drug arrests are up about the same number in the county.
“We are good at our jobs,” she said. “We are removing the people from our streets that need to be removed.”
One of the factors facing law enforcement and prosecutors was the bail reform measures passed by the state, which were enacted at the beginning of the year and later modified in July.
“We have catch and release bail,” said LaBuda, a former county court judge. “It’s catch and forget prosecution. We have hundreds of felons walking the streets of Sullivan County, and their cases are in limbo.”
But Galligan said after indictment, the timeline of felony prosecutions is determined by the trial judge. She said while LaBuda was on the bench, the county had “a record number of cases awaiting trial in his court for more than six months.”
She was highly critical of LaBuda’s time as a jurist. “As a judge, LaBuda’s reputation for refusing to work past lunch and frequently weeks-long trips was well-known and oft-discussed.” Galligan said, “It was that lack of work ethic that contributed to a backlog of nearly 40 indictments ready for trial without a county court judge willing to preside over them at the time of his final retirement.”
But, LaBuda said, “Hundreds of accused felons are not being prosecuted (and) in her positions as assistant DA and chief assistant DA, Ms. Galligan has been part of the problem.”
He listed a sampling of 35 pre-indictment cases pending, which he suggested was a result of Galligan’s “failure.”
Galligan said she never favored the bail reform measures enacted by the state. “I have always been opposed to the imposition of this bail reform statue,” she said. “It is not in the interest of public safety.”
