Municipal Court Bureau
The Municipal Court Bureau (MCB) encompasses City, Town and Village Courts. MCB oversees all misdemeanor, violation and traffic prosecutions in the local courts. City Court is staffed fulltime by seven (7) Assistant District Attorneys. Town and Village Courts are attended by Assistant District Attorneys for hearings and trials as needed.
City Court
Syracuse City Court is divided into eight parts. Judges are assigned to each part and rotate every two weeks.
- Part 1- Civil
- Part 2- Domestic Violence Court and Drug calendar
- Part 3- Traffic
- Part 4- Arraignments
- Part 5- Preliminary Hearings
- Part 6- County Court
- Part 7- Trial Part
- Part 8- Trial Part
The primary responsibility of MCB Assistant District Attorneys is to handle, from start to finish, all assigned misdemeanor and violation cases. Write-in traffic mail and email received by the District Attorney’s Office is also handled by MCB. All arraignments (felonies, misdemeanors and violations, and warrants) are handled in the morning in Part 4 by MCB Assistant District Attorneys, and at CAP (Centralized Arraignment Parts) court in the evening, 365 days per year.
Along with traditional criminal case calendars, City Court has several specialized courts. They include: Domestic Violence Court, Syracuse Community Treatment Court, C.A.R.E. (Court for Addiction Recovery and Education) Court, Veterans Court, Human Trafficking Court, Animal Abuse Court, and Recovery Court.
City Court also handles felony preliminary hearings, returned felony calendars and felony day calendar.
Local Courts
There are approximately 26 Town and Village Courts in Onondaga County. Half of the Assistant District Attorneys are assigned to up to two local courts to handle all hearings and trials in that particular court. This includes felony preliminary hearings.