MAYVILLE — A big change in law and order is coming to Chautauqua County in 2019. A new Centralized Arraignment Program will transform the way police departments and town justices do their jobs.

Ellicott Town Justice Marilyn Gerace led the charge to set up a system that will have all police departments besides the Jamestown and Dunkirk police departments in the county transporting individuals charged with a serious felony or misdemeanor charge to Mayville, so they can be arraigned at the soonest possible time by town justices, who will operate as judges, in the county.

All arraignments in which defendants do not use their own legal counsel will take place at the county seat. Arraignments will be conducted twice per day starting Jan. 8. Gerace set up a schedule for all of 2019 that will feature different justices presiding from 8-11 a.m. and 7-10 p.m. every day once the new arraignment procedures begin.

“We wrote up a plan, and that plan is being finalized,” Gerace said. “We are the first county in the eighth judicial district to have a CAP site plan in place.”

As its coordinator, Gerace hopes that Chautauqua County’s CAP will help other counties in the district and state establish their own. CAPs have become an initiative of county governments after a state mandate required defendants to always be represented by legal counsel during arraignments. The public defender’s office has also been coordinated to represent anyone who needs arraigned throughout 2019.

The CAP has already been preliminarily approved by the New York Office of Court Administration and is awaiting final approval. The Jan. 8 start date is still likely to be the CAP’s first day, and individuals needing an arraignment will begin to be held at a secure facility at the Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s a new way of doing business,” Gerace said about the CAP. “It’s a better way of doing business.”

Some police officials have shared skepticism about the CAP, but Gerace thinks the system will persuade departments of its effectiveness when it begins. All involved police departments were required to sign a memorandum with the sheriff’s office agreeing to the CAP.

“There’s a number of different players who have been instrumental,” Gerace said. “It was a huge undertaking. We’ve worked really hard to get this pulled together.”

The process to create the CAP consisted of coordinating and sharing contact information, scheduling court dates and preparing everything to be efficient for the county overall but also accommodating and fair to the numerous police departments and town judges. Gerace thanked the county’s information technology department for helping establish the logistics of sharing information.

Gerace said the new system will be beneficial for those who end up in county jail because the CAP should better streamline the arraignment process to get inmates the physical or mental health help they need more quickly.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for the CAP at some point in the New Year. Gerace said District Attorney Patrick Swanson, Public Defender Ned Barone, County Executive George Borrello, Sheriff Jim Quattrone and former Sheriff Joe Gerace have all written letters in support of the program.

“Everybody’s stepped up to the plate on many different levels to realize (the CAP),” said Gerace, who pointed out the local, county, district and state support needed to make it a reality. “Everybody has worked together. I couldn’t have done this without everyone’s support.”