Delaware sets public hearings on salary increases

Public hearings on raising the salaries of the district attorney and public defender, and to extend a youth hunting law until 2025, are scheduled to be held during the April 24 meeting of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors.

The board introduced Local Law No. 18, which would raise District Attorney Shawn Smith’s salary to $221,100 per year, effective April 1. Smith currently receives $200,400, Personnel Officer Carrara Knoetgen said.

Hamden Town Supervisor Wayne Marshfield asked “So, this is dictated by the state to raise it from his current level to this?” County Attorney Amy Merklen answered, “Yes.” Marshfield continued, “And that’s what’s happening to all the counties. They’re going broke because of the state dictating all this stuff.”

The public hearing on Local Law No. 18 of 2024 is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. April 24.

The board approved paying Public Defender Joseph Ermeti $187,650 this year during its Nov. 21, 2023 meeting, Daily Star archives said. Under Local Law No. 19, his salary would be increased to allow for additional compensation for “on-call” worked performed.

Supervisors approved the on-call work compensation for defense attorneys earlier in the meeting. The Court of Appeals has determined that counsel at the first appearance in court of a criminal defendant is required. The county will pay attorneys $2,000 to work on an “on-call” basis from seven to 10 days at a time, 24 hours per day. Attorneys would be required to call the Centralized Arraignment Part court to see if there were any arraignments scheduled for 8 a.m. or 8 p.m. so they could represent the defendant, Merklen said. The public defender would be required to take one of the on-call shifts each month, she said.

Merklen said $675 of the $2,000 is reimbursed by the state. Delhi Town Supervisor Maya Boukai asked if there were no cases, would the attorneys get still paid. Merklen said the attorneys would get paid if there were no cases, however, if they called and there were cases but they didn’t show up for the arraignments, they would not get paid.

The public hearing on Local Law No. 19 of 2024 was scheduled to be held at 1:10 p.m. April 24.

The public hearing on Local Law No. 17 of 2024 is scheduled to be held at 1 p.m. April 24. The law would allow 12- and 13-year-old licensed hunters to hunt deer with a firearm or cross bow during hunting season with the supervision of an adult licensed hunter. The law was enacted in 2021 as a pilot program by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The pilot program was deemed a success by the DEC, so the DEC is allowing counties the opportunity to extend the law through 2025.