Non-attorneys should no longer serve as local justices and town and village courts should be consolidated into district courts — those are the recommendations of the New York State Bar Association announced on Monday.

The group is calling for an overhaul of how local-level courts are structured and operated, pointing to the need for cost savings and modernization. 

“It is necessary for our legal system to be constantly re-evaluated,” said Richard Lewis, the president of the New York State Bar Association. “We need to continue to adapt to our changing society and improve our system so that all stakeholders, plaintiffs’ attorneys, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and of course, the parties can achieve justice."

Any action would be up to the state Legislature, making any changes unlikely to come until next year. 

The bar association wants town and village justices to have a law degree and a minimum of five years of practice in the state. The requirements are the same for serving as city court judge in New York. Non-attorney justices would be phased out as their four-year terms expire. 

The proposals are from the recommendations of a task force released over the weekend. 

“The justice system needs to be reformed and consolidated. All judges must have a legal education and at least five years of experience practicing law before taking the bench,” said Sherry Levin Wallach, who is the association’s immediate past president and was the one who launched the Task Force on the Modernization of Criminal Practice. “People’s freedom, lives and livelihoods are at stake.”