Columbia County Sheriff David P. Bartlett was elected First Vice-President of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association at the organization’s 86th Annual Winter Training Conference held in Albany this week.
Sheriff Bartlett will serve the Association, which is comprised of the state’s 55 elected and 3 appointed Sheriffs, during 2020. As First Vice-President Sheriff Bartlett also serves on the Association’s Executive Committee which guides the activities of the organization between annual meetings. The Sheriffs’ Association was formed in 1934 to represent the interests and concerns of Sheriffs and their constituents before the State Legislature, the Governor’s Office and state agencies in Albany and to provide training and support to Sheriffs and their staff across the state.
Among other actions taken by the Association at the annual conference was the adoption of resolutions opposing the decriminalization of marijuana in New York, as being contrary to everyone’s efforts to fight the opioid epidemic and vaping epidemic, and opposing the Governor’s proposal for shared county jails, as being harmful to families, defense attorneys, the inmates themselves, and the taxpayers. The Sheriffs also continue to urge changes to the recently enacted bail and discover rules.