ALBANY – Rebecca McGowan, a Justice of the Jewett Town Court, resigned from office on July 31, 2008, and, pursuant to a stipulation which the State Commission on Judicial Conduct approved, agreed neither to seek nor accept judicial office in the future.

The Commission served a Formal Written Complaint on Judge McGowan on October 19, 2007, containing three charges.

The complaint alleged that the judge, who is not an attorney:

• Granted special consideration to her brother-in-law, Charles Tatar. Tatar is also the son of Stanley Tatar, Judge McGowan’s former co-justice who is no longer on the bench. At Stanley Tatar’s request, Judge McGowan dismissed two charges against Mr. Tatar alleging violations of the Jewett Dog Control Law;

• Failed to disqualify herself from five other matters in which the defendants were either her relatives or a family friend and granted them special consideration;

• Failed to make timely deposits of court funds from eight cases within 72 hours of receipt, as required by law.

In a separate case, the Commission determined that Thomas Baldwin, a Justice of the Cairo Town Court, should be admonished.

In a determination dated August 22, 2008, the Commission said Judge Baldwin, who is not an attorney, should be reprimanded as a result of the “significant” delays in three small claims actions filed in his court.

In one case, the judge failed to issue a decision after a hearing, apparently because of a lost file; in another case, Baldwin did not rule on a motion to dismiss; and in the third case he failed to rule on a request to hold a debtor in contempt over the alleged failure to return an $855 deposit.

The Commission also said it was “improper” for Baldwin to delay issuing an eviction warrant in a fourth case based upon an ex parte communication.