DA’s Office will do public sessions at date to be announced on Extreme Risk Protection Orders

Staff Reports Posted 26 August 2019 at 12:51 pm

ALBION – The Orleans County District Attorney’s Office will have two training sessions on Tuesday for school administrators, police officers and prosecutors regarding Extreme Risk Protection Orders.

Those sessions are closed to the public and will be at the 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. at the County Administration Building.

Joe Cardone, the Orleans County DA, said there will be public forums at dates to be announced about the state legislation, which creates a mechanism to take guns away from people who are likely to hurt themselves or others.

Under the newly enacted Article 63-A of New York’s Civil Practice Law and Rules, the New York Supreme Court can issue an ERPO against a person who possesses or has access to certain types of guns.

Police officers, school administrators, or district attorneys, or family or household members of the person are permitted to file a petition in Supreme Court, seeking an ERPO. After a hearing, if the court determines that the person is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to the person or to others, the court may issue an ERPO.

The order would require that firearms, rifles, or shotguns that the person possesses, or has access to, be surrendered to police, and would permit police to seize guns of those types from the person. There are time limits on the length of an ERPO, and the order may be renewed under certain circumstances.

“While I fully support an individual’s constitutional right to bear arms, each of you need to be aware of this change in the law,” Cardone said. “Through this training, we hope to provide our police, school administrators, and our prosecutors with the information they will need to understand this recent change in the law.”

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