Editing Putnam County, New York (section)

===County Courts===
There are three types of general trial courts in Putnam County: the [[New York Supreme Court]], the County Court and the Justice Courts. The Supreme Court is the trial level court of the [[New York State Unified Court System]], which presents some confusion as the Supreme Court is the highest court of appeals in the federal system as well as in most states, whereas the Court of Appeals is the highest court in New York. The [[New York Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] has broad authority over all categories of cases, both civil and criminal. Generally the Supreme Court in Putnam hears civil cases involving claims in excess of $25,000. While the Supreme Court has [[jurisdiction]] over criminal cases in most counties this is handled by the County Courts. In Putnam, however, the Supreme Court does exercise jurisdiction over some criminal cases.<ref name="disc7">{{cite web|author=New York State united court system|title=Courts in Putnam county|year=2007|publisher=New York State united court system|access-date=January 13, 2008|url=http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/9jd/Putnam/supremecounty.shtml|archive-date=January 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111095035/http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/9jd/Putnam/supremecounty.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[New York Supreme Court|County Court]] is authorized to hear all criminal cases that have occurred in the county as well as limited jurisdiction over civil cases. The County Court handles felony cases exclusively and shares jurisdiction with the town and village justice courts on misdemeanor cases and other minor offenses and violations. The County Court's jurisdiction on civil cases is limited to those involving less than $25,000.<ref name="disc7" />

The Historic Putnam County Courthouse is located in the town of Carmel.<ref name="disc7" /> Built in 1814 in Greek Revival style, it is the second oldest working courthouse in New York, second to the one in [[Johnstown (city), New York|Johnstown]]. Portico and pillars were added to the structure in the 1840s. It was recently extensively remodeled to preserve the structure and adapt it for use as the Surrogate's Court.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.visitputnam.org/historic/carmel.html |title=Putnam County Visitors' Bureau |access-date=February 5, 2008 |archive-date=March 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316103113/http://www.visitputnam.org/historic/carmel.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The new Putnam County Courthouse opened on January 2, 2008. It was constructed at a cost of $22.8 million. Jury assembly, court clerks and a public law library are located on the first floor. The second floor includes a Family Court and hearing room. On all floors are judges' chambers, jury deliberation rooms, prisoner cells and conference rooms. The third floor has two courtrooms for the County Court. The Supreme Court and a law library occupy the fourth floor.<ref>[http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/NEWS04/712290359 "Putnam's $22.8M courthouse to open Wednesday," by Susan Elan, ''The Journal News'', December 29, 2007 ]</ref>