NORWICH – Chenango County Court Judge Frank B. Revoir, Jr. was appointed as Acting Supreme Court Justice earlier this month, which he said has significance for the community at large, including enabling local courts to offer the drug treatment court program as a sentencing option in misdemeanor cases.
Revoir grew up in Norwich and attended Norwich High School. In 1988, he graduated from Nazareth College of Rochester with a degree in business administration, before attending Albany Law. In 1991, Revoir came back to his hometown of Norwich and served as an assistant in the same court he now serves as county judge. Revoir then opened his own local private practice in 1996, while simultaneously serving as an assistant county attorney. After more than 20 years of working as a lawyer, he ran for county judge in 2012 and was sworn in on Jan. 1, 2013.
After two years of service, New York State county court judges become eligible to serve as acting supreme court justices, which is why Revoir said he was appointed after the two year anniversary of his current position. Acting supreme court justices handle several different types of cases such as matrimonial actions including divorce, major litigation like medical malpractice or foreclosures and important legal and financial issues like the controversial fracking issue, according to Revoir.
Along with their regular duties, acting supreme court justices can step in and handle cases on almost any level, according to the New York State Constitution. Revoir said he can now step in and handle Chenango County Supreme Court Judge Kevin M. Dowd's cases, which he could not before.
“It has significance because Judge Dowd could step in for me when I had to recuse myself or was unavailable, but I could not do the same for him. He has to recuse himself or is unavailable for a variety of reasons, so it is beneficial to have a local judge be able to step in,” said Revoir.
Revoir elaborated and said it is also beneficial to local individuals and attorneys because they no longer have to travel out of county for supreme court cases. “They can appear in front of me right across the street,” said Revoir.
Not only will Revoir be able to help in local supreme court cases but supreme court cases in neighboring counties as well. The Office of Court Administration has specifically assigned Revoir to help with Madison County supreme court cases.
“I am happy to do that because many judges from other counties have stepped in and helped me, and I have a lot of recusals, because I was an attorney for 20 years prior to becoming judge. In the early stages of my judicial career, I have a significant number of conflicts and recusals [cases he cannot handle because of prior legal relationships with parties involved]. I am more than happy to give back and help another county that is struggling with its case load right now,” said Revoir.
Another significant and important benefit to Revoir becoming Acting Supreme Court Justice –which he said is the one he is really excited about– is the fact that Chenango County Court can now become a hub court.
According to Revoir, this means that the drug treatment court program, which is supervised by Revoir, is now a sentencing option for misdemeanor cases in local courts within the county. “Only felony cases at the county level could be sentenced to treatment court, not misdemeanor cases at the local level. I can now supervise those misdemeanor cases through treatment court, which I could not before.” said Revoir.
