New York sorts charges into three tiers. Felonies sit on top: grave crimes punishable by a stretch in a state prison, graded from class A, the heaviest, to class E. Misdemeanors come next, in class A or B, and a conviction can bring local jail for up to 364 days. Violations rank lowest and don't count as crimes (Penal Law § 70.15).

• Town and village justice courts take violations, traffic cases and misdemeanors. Their justices also hold the arraignment and the preliminary hearing when a felony is charged.
• County Court handles felonies once a grand jury indicts, and it can hear any crime from inside the county. The Supreme Court shares the same building.
• Family Court and the Youth Part take cases about kids and teens. Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds accused of felonies see a Youth Part judge first.

Rockland has no city courts. Appeals go through the Appellate Division, Second Department.

The big county-level courts all share one address: Rockland County Courthouse, 1 South Main Street, New City, NY 10956. Use the right office for your question:

• Supreme and County Court: 845-483-8310, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Family Court: Suite 300, 845-483-8210
• County Clerk (court filings, pistol licenses): Suite 100, 845-638-5070
• Treatment Court (court-supervised addiction treatment): coordinators' office at 845-483-8383
• Courthouse switchboard: 845-483-8300; jury office 845-483-8400

All five towns run a justice court:

• Clarkstown Justice Court: 20 Maple Avenue, New City, NY 10956, 845-639-5960. Open 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Haverstraw Town Justice Court: Town Hall, One Rosman Road, Garnerville, NY 10923, 845-947-0020. Office open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Criminal court sits Mondays at 5:00 p.m. and Thursdays at 9:00 a.m.
• Orangetown Justice Court: Town Hall, 26 W. Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, NY 10962, 845-359-5100, then press 1. Weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Ramapo Justice Court: 237 Route 59, Suffern, NY 10901, 845-357-5100, extension 902. Window open 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on business days.
• Stony Point Justice Court: 6 Patriot Hills Drive, Stony Point, NY 10980, 845-786-2506. Court meets Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Village courts with their own clerk lines:

• Chestnut Ridge: 277 Old Nyack Turnpike, Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977, 845-425-3108. Criminal session the fourth Monday at 5:30 p.m.
• Haverstraw Village: Municipal Building, 40 New Main Street, Haverstraw, NY 10927, 845-947-4063. Sessions the first and third Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m.
• Nyack: Village Hall, 9 North Broadway, Nyack, NY 10960, 845-358-4464. Sessions are by appointment.
• Piermont: 478 Piermont Avenue, 2nd Floor, Piermont, NY 10968, 845-252-1250
• Spring Valley: 200 North Main Street, Spring Valley, NY 10977, 845-573-5820. Office open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Suffern: 61 Washington Avenue, Suffern, NY 10901, 845-357-6424

Eight more villages elect a justice of their own: West Haverstraw, Wesley Hills, Sloatsburg, New Square, New Hempstead, Montebello, Hillburn and Airmont. Get their address and session times from the state court finder, or ask the courthouse switchboard at 845-483-8300. Grand View-on-Hudson, Kaser, Pomona and Upper Nyack have no village justice on the county's 2026 list, and South Nyack stopped being a village on March 31, 2022. For a case from one of those places, the switchboard can name the right court.

Think of the arraignment as the opening scene of the case. It is normally held about a day after the arrest, before the local justice who covers the place of arrest. Expect this:

1. The judge reads out or hands over the charges.
2. A lawyer is assigned on the spot if the person can't afford one.
3. The judge issues a securing order. That means going home on a pledge or under conditions, or, only for qualifying charges, bail or remand.
4. When the charge involves family violence, a temporary order of protection may follow. It can tell the person to keep away from the alleged victim (CPL 530.12).
5. On a felony complaint, the District Attorney must give notice of the right to testify before the grand jury (CPL 190.50(5)).

Someone locked up on a felony complaint has a deadline working for them. If 120 hours pass with no preliminary hearing and no indictment, they must be released. Weekends and holidays push it to 144 hours, and a few exceptions apply (CPL 180.80).

Most misdemeanors stay in the town or village court from start to finish. The usual path:

1. Arraignment and a plea of guilty or not guilty.
2. Discovery, the hand-over of the prosecution's evidence. The deadline is 20 days after arraignment for someone in custody and 35 days for someone at home (CPL 245.10).
3. Motions, plea talks and court dates.
4. A trial if no deal is made. For a class A misdemeanor, the prosecution must be ready within 90 days (CPL 30.30).

Here are the most a court can impose:

• Class A misdemeanor, such as petit larceny or third-degree assault: jail for as long as 364 days, and a fine reaching $1,000.
• Class B misdemeanor: a three-month jail cap and a $500 fine cap.
• Violation: up to 15 days and $250 (Penal Law §§ 70.15, 80.05).

Many sentences involve no jail. For a class A misdemeanor, probation is set at two or three years. Choosing a conditional discharge instead means a year of rules and no supervision officer (Penal Law §§ 65.00, 65.05). The Clean Slate Act later hides many misdemeanor records from public view once three years go by after release or sentencing (CPL 160.57).

A felony moves between two levels of court:

1. Local arraignment. The justice court reads the felony complaint and decides on release.
2. Grand jury or preliminary hearing. The District Attorney presents the case to a grand jury, a panel of citizens who vote on whether to indict. The accused can give written notice and testify there before any vote.
3. County Court arraignment. After an indictment, the case moves to the courthouse at 1 South Main Street, New City, NY 10956, 845-483-8310. There the person enters a plea again.
4. Discovery and motions. Both sides trade evidence and file requests with the judge.
5. Plea or trial. The prosecution must be ready for trial within six months (CPL 30.30).
6. Sentencing.

The longest prison terms climb with the class. Class E tops out at 4 years and class D at 7. Class C can reach 15 years, class B 25 years, and class A carries life (Penal Law § 70.00). In some class D or E cases, the judge can choose a local jail term of a year or under when a longer one would be unduly harsh. Eligible people charged with some drug felonies may enter treatment through judicial diversion instead (CPL Article 216).

Violent felony offenses, listed in Penal Law § 70.02, carry fixed prison terms and stricter rules:

• Fixed terms. The ranges start at 1.5 to 4 years for a class E and rise to 2 to 7 for class D, 3.5 to 15 for class C, and 5 to 25 for class B. Robbery in the first degree is a class B example, and assault in the second degree is a class D one.
• Supervision after prison. A term of post-release supervision follows the prison time (Penal Law § 70.45).
• Money bail and remand. Because every violent felony counts as a qualifying offense, both are on the table (CPL 510.10(4)).
• Orders of protection. A final order after a felony conviction can last up to eight years beyond the sentence (CPL 530.12(5)).
• Record sealing. Sex offenses never qualify for Clean Slate sealing, and violent felonies can't be sealed by application (CPL 160.57, 160.59).

The District Attorney's Office brings every criminal case in the county. It is at 1 South Main Street, Suite 500, New City, NY 10956, 845-638-5001, email info@rocklandda.org. The office also runs programs that can steer some people away from jail, including drug treatment (DTAP), mental health and veterans tracks, and a diversion program.

Free defense comes from the Public Defender's Office, 11 New Hempstead Road, New City, NY 10956, 845-638-5660, open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A judge decides who qualifies. State standards presume that a person in jail, or with income under 250% of the federal poverty line, is eligible. Ask for a lawyer right away; one can be named for now while the paperwork is checked.

For felony cases in County Court, use WebCrims, the state's free criminal case search. Key in a couple of letters or more from each name, then narrow to Rockland. Results cover open cases with a court date still ahead. Closed matters, sealed files, youthful offender cases and anything stalled on a warrant won't appear.

Town and village court cases are not part of WebCrims, so call the court that has the case:

• Clarkstown 845-639-5960, Haverstraw Town 845-947-0020, Orangetown 845-359-5100, Ramapo 845-357-5100, Stony Point 845-786-2506
• For a County Court date, call the clerk at 845-483-8310.

Keep the defendant's birth date and exact spelling handy for the clerk.

Local police serve most warrants in their own towns. The Sheriff's Police Division helps with warrant arrests across the county, 845-638-5401. State fugitives are shown on the New York State Police wanted page. To check for a local warrant, call the court that would have issued it, or the Sheriff's Police Division. Cases with an open warrant drop out of the state's online case search, so phoning works best. Clearing one starts with a lawyer. Walk in together at the issuing court, or phone its clerk to arrange a date. Felony warrants come from County Court, 1 South Main Street, New City, NY 10956, 845-483-8310.

Federal charges from Rockland are heard in White Plains by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The courthouse is at 300 Quarropas Street, White Plains, NY 10601, 914-390-4100, and the clerk is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• Early on, the federal magistrate decides custody at what the law calls a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• People who can't afford a lawyer can be represented by the Federal Defenders of New York, 81 Main Street, Suite 124, White Plains, NY 10601, 914-428-7124.
• Deputies of the U.S. Marshals Service guard federal prisoners and drive them to court. You can reach the district office at 500 Pearl Street, Suite 400, New York, NY 10007, 646-563-9800.
• Case papers are on the PACER Case Locator for 10 cents a page, capped at $3 per document.
• After sentencing, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows where the person is.

A detainer leaves the criminal case untouched. What it changes is release day. Step by step:

1. The jail receives Form I-247A, the federal detainer paper.
2. That paper requests a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, giving ICE time to arrive (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE's New York City Field Office covers Rockland. It is at 26 Federal Plaza, 9th Floor, Suite 9-110, New York, NY 10278, 212-436-9315.
4. People taken into ICE custody can end up far from home, for example at the Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center, 4250 Federal Drive, Batavia, NY 14020, 585-344-6500.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator to find them.

New York sets limits on all of this. Local officers in New York hold no authority over civil immigration arrests. Rockland sits in the Second Department, whose judges said so in 2018 in People ex rel. Wells v DeMarco. Executive Law § 170-k, adopted in 2026, ended 287(g) agreements, which had let some local officers act as immigration agents. Civil Rights Law § 28 protects anyone traveling to, attending or leaving a court case from civil immigration arrest, absent a judicial warrant or court order. A defense lawyer should be told early about any immigration concern, because pleading guilty can carry immigration consequences.

Sentences of more than a year are served in state prison under the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). Shorter terms are served in the county facility. A state sentence starts at a DOCCS reception center. Staff there run medical exams and program tests, assign a security level, and then pick a prison.

• Find them on the DOCCS Incarcerated Lookup using a name or the DIN.
• Facility profiles for every prison are on our New York state prisons page.
• Check on someone released to parole with the DOCCS Parolee Lookup.
• Call DOCCS at 518-457-5000 on business days for help locating a person.

Age decides the court. A child 12 to 17 who does something that would be a crime for an adult is usually handled as a juvenile delinquent in Family Court (Family Court Act § 301.2). Some 13- to 15-year-olds accused of the most serious violent felonies are charged as juvenile offenders in adult court (CPL 1.20(42)). Teens of 16 and 17 charged with a felony are called adolescent offenders, and a Youth Part judge in County Court hears them first. A nonviolent case transfers to Family Court after 30 days, unless prosecutors prove extraordinary circumstances (CPL 722.23).

• Police have to reach a parent immediately. Questioning a child is allowed only in a room the courts have approved, or at home if a parent agrees (Family Court Act § 305.2).
• Youths can't be held in a jail with adults.

Family Court is at 1 South Main Street, Suite 300, New City, NY 10956, 845-483-8210. Probation intake, at 845-638-5544, can tell parents where a youth is held and what comes next.

The District Attorney's Office runs a Special Victims Center in a safe place apart from the courthouse. It helps with medical care and gives victims an advocate. Reach it through the main line, 845-638-5001, or at 1 South Main Street, Suite 500, New City, NY 10956.

• The state Office of Victim Services can repay out-of-pocket losses like medical bills, counseling and funeral costs. Call 800-247-8035.
• Sign up for custody alerts through VINE at VINELink or 888-846-3469.
• In a family violence case, a criminal court can issue an order of protection. If the prosecutor drops or reduces the case, they must try to tell the victim about the right to ask Family Court for an order (CPL 530.12).