Committee on Criminal Justice Oversight Hearing on Improving Court Operations to Reduce Jail Population - June 25, 2026
Committee on Criminal Justice Oversight Hearing on Improving Court Operations to Reduce Jail Population - June 25, 2026
The New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice, chaired by Councilmember Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, held an oversight hearing on June 25, 2026, to examine how court operations, discovery compliance, scheduling practices, and interagency coordination affect the jail population. The hearing focused on reducing pretrial detention and improving case processing efficiency to meet the legal mandate to close Rikers Island. Panelists included Chief Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas, representatives from the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) and the NYPD, public defenders, and community advocates. District attorneys did not attend, and their absence was noted.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Helen Skipper (Executive Director, NYC Justice Peer Initiative; Vice Chair, NYC Board of Correction) urged investment in community-based alternatives, the Treatment Court Expansion Act, and hiring people with lived experience. She stressed that the jail population exceeds 6,600 and that closing Rikers requires reducing criminalization of behavioral health issues.
- Zachary Katzenelson (Independent Rikers Commission) proposed six actionable steps: require NYPD to give DAs database access, mandate evidence upload within 48 hours, fully staff discovery liaison units, set deadlines for data management systems, set turnaround times for OCME forensic testing, and require Correctional Health Services to complete competency assessments within 14 days.
- Jennifer Parrish (Jails Action Coalition, Treatment Not Jail, Urban Justice Center) highlighted that people with mental health conditions spend more time in jail and called for adequate funding of community programs and adoption of the Treatment Court Expansion Act.
- Ryan Aquata (Freedom Agenda, Urban Justice Center) described obstacles to diversion, including lack of treatment program capacity and waitlists for mobile treatment teams, and called for funding crisis respite centers, Harbor House expansion, and an outpatient competency restoration pilot.
- Michelle Evans (formerly incarcerated journalist) criticized vendor excuses for delayed data systems, shared her own experience of being denied discovery access while at Rikers, and stressed that defendants often cannot make informed decisions without discovery.
- Jonah Seitz (CATAL Center for Equity, Health and Justice) urged the council to use budgetary powers to hold the mayor accountable for a measurable Rikers closure plan, noting nearly 80 deaths since the 2019 closure plan.
- Michael Tucker (speaking for the Grimes Fuller family) described a case of a pretrial detainee with severe mental health issues held for over eight years without trial or adequate services, and called for investigations and subpoenas of DOC and CHS.
- Dr. Victoria Phillips (Visionary V Ministries, Jails Action Coalition) testified about systemic failures in producing detainees for court, false refusal write-ups, inadequate mental health care, and rising deaths on Rikers, noting that 68% of detainees with mental health concerns do not receive adequate treatment.
Discussion Items
- Chief Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas testified that case processing efficiency is critical for credibility and reducing the jail population. He highlighted scheduling order initiatives, pretrial suppression hearings, increased problem-solving court staffing, and a 10% citywide increase in dispositions in 2025. He identified discovery non-compliance (average times for filing certificates of compliance ranged from 46 days in Richmond to 145 days in New York County), delayed plea offers by prosecutors, under-resourced assigned counsel (ACP), and lack of community program capacity as key barriers. He advocated for earlier discovery disclosure, more trial-ready judges, and adequate funding for alternative-to-incarceration programs.
- Councilmember Frank Morano questioned whether a predetermined jail population goal (4,000) might compromise justice; Judge Zayas responded that the goal is aspirational and not a reason to release people unsafely. Morano also asked about OCA’s process for assigning judges to criminal court; Zayas acknowledged occasional shortages but noted efforts to assign experienced judges.
- Councilmember Gale A. Brewer raised issues with detainee transportation from Rikers to court (often cited as 99% on-time, but she disputed this) and technology problems. Zayas acknowledged the need for improvement and stated that liaisons track production times and coordinate with DOC.
- Councilmember Tiffany Cabán criticized the absence of district attorneys and questioned judges setting bail at Supreme Court arraignment for defendants who appeared voluntarily. Zayas defended judicial independence but affirmed that bail law requires consideration of appearance risk. Cabán also pressed for weekend/holiday bail processing and training on out-of-state fugitive warrants; Zayas said plans are in place for the former and that judges are trained to consider release.
- Councilmember Yusef Salaam asked about population projections and the impact of reducing adjournment intervals. Zayas said the current population is around 6,000 and doubted projections of 8,800, noting that dispositions are outpacing filings (clearance rate 125%). He explained that adjournment length depends on case stage and that judges are encouraged to set shorter dates when cases are trial-ready.
- NYPD Representative Andrew Batello described processes for evidence upload: automatic transmission via DA portal, ECMS, and evidence.com for body-worn cameras, with a centralized Discovery Liaison Unit (DLU) of 31 uniformed personnel (1 lieutenant, 5 sergeants, 25 officers/detectives) embedded in each DA’s office. He acknowledged that not all materials are accessible within statutory deadlines (e.g., 911 records have backlog) and that some materials take longer to produce. He could not definitively say evidence is always transmitted within required timelines.
- MOCJ Director Deanna Logan and First Deputy Jill Starashevsky addressed the assigned counsel plan (ACP) underfunding, stating that $50 million in allocated funds were not drawn down because budgets must match approved spending. They also discussed delays in the 730 competency restoration process (outpatient restoration is stymied by DA consent refusal), data management system procurement issues (vendor capacity failure), and efforts to improve OCME report turnaround.
- Public Defenders Panel (Tina Luongo, Legal Aid; Wes Keynes, Bronx Defenders; Elizabeth Fisher, Neighborhood Defender Service; Stan German, NY County Defender Services; Young Me Lee, Brooklyn Defenders) criticized the absence of DAs and NYPD accountability. They argued that the root cause of delay is over-policing and over-prosecution, not just court operations. They highlighted that low-level arrests are rising sharply (e.g., drug possession arrests up over 200% since 2021), that bail is often set unnecessarily (over 50% of bail cases end in dismissal or ACD), and that defense offices are understaffed due to low salaries and high attrition. They called for an end to broken-windows policing, funding for community services, and reduction of the volume of cases entering the system.
Key Outcomes
- The committee filed the oversight hearing (T2026-1957) as a formal record.
- No votes were taken, but the chair committed to continuing the conversation and scheduling future hearings with district attorneys, who were notably absent.
- Judge Zayas committed to providing the committee with a county-by-county breakdown of discovery compliance data and data on sanctions for late discovery.
- The committee urged OCA to continue expanding scheduling orders, pretrial hearings, and problem-solving courts.
- The committee called on the mayor’s office and NYPD to improve evidence transmission, fully staff discovery liaison units, and implement data management systems.
- The council was urged by advocates to use its legislative and budgetary powers to enforce the Rikers closure plan, fund community-based alternatives, and require NYPD to provide DAs access to databases.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. Welcome to the committee on criminal justice. Please place your phone on solid or vibrate mode at any time during the hearing. Do not approach the dais. Chair, we are ready to begin. Good morning. I am Councilmember Sylvina Brooks Powers, Chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice. I want to welcome everyone to today's hearing on improving court operations to reduce the jail population. At the outset, I would like to extend my gratitude to Judge Zayas on his superb staff and team and for participating in today's conversation. Judge Zayas has demonstrated his commitment to changing the status quo and to creating a legal system that promotes community safety by reducing reliance on incarceration. I am joined by committee members Brewer and Murano. The pace at which cases move throughout courts is a critical factor in determining how New York City will achieve its legal mandate to close Rikers Island and transition to borough based jails. At present, more than 80% of the people in city jails are pretrial detainees, individuals who have not been convicted, but are held while their cases are pending. When those cases are delayed, people remain in custody longer than necessary. The jail population is inflated, and questions are raised as to whether the plan capacity of the borough based jails will be sufficient. As context for this hearing, it is important to recognize the real world consequences of prolonged pretrial detention in our city jails. The experience of individuals like Khalif Rowder, who spent years at Rikers Island without a conviction, while his case was repeatedly delayed, underscores the human costs of a system where case processing breaks down. His story is a reminder that delays in court proceedings are not abstract administrative problems, but have profound and lasting consequences. Those consequences are felt not only by people unnecessarily detained, but also by crime victims and their loved ones. When someone is victimized, especially by an act of violence, we should expect swift accountability. When justice is delayed, especially in communities where immediate consequences for minor offenses are frequent and highly visible, people rightly lose confidence in the criminal justice system, the criminal legal system. As a result, we are all left less safe. Today's hearing will examine the operational factors that contribute to case delays, including discovery compliance, court scheduling practices, evidence production, and interagency coordination between the Office of Court Administration, the NYPD, and the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice. Also, the committee will hear testimony from legal service providers, community organizations, and other stakeholders about how these systems function in practice and where breakdowns continue to occur. We will focus in particular on how discovery obligations are being implemented following the initial 2019 statutory reforms and subsequent amendments, and how those requirements are affecting trial readiness and case resolution timelines. We will also examine how court operations, such as the timing of hearings, the resolution of discovery disputes, and the availability of court resources shape the length of pre pretrial detention. I would like to thank my staff and committee staff for their hard work. Jeremy Whiteman, Senior Counsel to the Committee, who is serving in his very final hearing with the city council, and I just want to thank you for the work that you've provided to the committee all of these years. Also, we have Chad Benjamin, policy analyst, Casey Lajesky, Financial Analyst. Julian Martin, my deputy chief of staff, who also is serving in his last hearing before departing, to go on to his next chapter. And we like to thank Julian for all of his amazing work, both on the Committee on Criminal Justice and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. My communications director, Kiara Powell, and of course my chief of staff, Renee Taylor. I look forward to a productive discussion about how we can strengthen court operations to enhance fairness and accountability across the board. So now we'll quite call Judge Zayas up to the days, please. And counsel will sway you in. Do you affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing towards the truth before this committee and respond honestly to council member questions? I do, noting for the record, it was answered affirmatively. You may begin your testimony. Now, my light is red here. Should it be green? Okay. Great. May I begin? Yes. Alright, good morning, uh Chair Brooks Powers. Uh thank you and the other members of this committee for organizing uh today's hearing on a truly important subject, the processing of criminal cases in New York City. Uh as you said in your opening remarks, which I I really appreciated, the efficient management of criminal cases is something that I care deeply deeply about, having served for many years as a trial judge and an administrative judge. Now, as the chief administrative uh judge of uh overseeing the operations of all of New York State's trial courts, one of my highest priorities is the implementation of policies and procedures that help minimize the delays that often impede the swift resolution of criminal cases. Let me start by explaining why this issue is so important. For our criminal justice system to be effective and credible, serious criminal cases cannot routinely languish in the courts.
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