Above: Campaign photos for Robert Blain and Michelle Blain. Source: The Town of Prattsville Republican Party Facebook page.
Robert J. Blain, who had served as a justice of the Town of Prattsville Court since 1987, resigned abruptly in June, as did his daughter, MIchelle Blain, who had been the court's clerk since 2004. The pair had run for re-election and won in November.
Last week, two months after the Blains' resignations, town officials learned that Robert Blain had been under investigation by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC). The CJC was following up on a 2013 audit by the New York State Comptroller's office, which turned up financial irregularities at the Prattsville court.
The sums of money that were involved were small, but the CJC found the irregularities serious enough to warn Blain not to seek judicial office again.
The CJC was also concerned by "insufficient oversight by Judge Blain over his court clerk," according to a stipulation agreement between the CJC and Blain released on August 4.
Improper accounting
Financial issues at the Prattsville court were revealed in early 2013, when the Comptroller's office found that the court was not practicing proper accounting, bookkeeping, or oversight procedures, and that $1,848 in Blain's court account "could not be traced to any open or closed case files, fines or fees, or bail moneys."
When a draft of the audit report was released in February 2013, the town responded by hiring an independent CPA to fix the problem, according to a letter from Kory O'Hara, Prattsville's supervisor, which is filed with the comptroller's audit report.
Later in 2013, the CJC began investigating Blain, according to a document the agency released on August 4:
Judge Blain was apprised by the [CJC] in August 2013 that it was investigating a complaint that an audit of the Prattsville Town Court by the Office of the New York State Comptroller found multiple financial irregularities in the court accounts and insufficient oversight by Judge Blain over his court clerk.
Now that Justice Blain has resigned, the CJC has closed the investigation, with a warning: It will re-open its case if Blain seeks or accepts judicial office in the future.
Town taken by surprise
According to the Windham Journal, the fact that their judge was under investigation by the CJC took Prattsville officials by surprise:
“We didn't know about this investigation,” town supervisor Kory O'Hara said, in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
“We had no indication from anyone this was coming. “I can say we wondered a little bit when Judge Blain retired, having just been re-elected, but we heard about this the same way everyone else did.
“We knew about the audit and were working with the Comptroller's Office to get the court books in order but all we knew was it was poor bookkeeping,” O'Hara said.
Blain and his daughter both resigned from their posts -- as town justice and justice clerk, respectively -- in June, according to the paper.
That leaves Prattsville with one judge: David A. Rikard, who was elected in November.
Flood and tragedy
Blain's resignation letter, which is included in the CJC stipulation, is brief, and does not give an explanation for his retirement.
However, the Town of Prattsville Justice Court has weathered more than its fair share of hardship in the past few years.
In August of 2011, Tropical Storm Irene destroyed much of the 700-person village of Prattsville and damaged the court's offices in the town hall, forcing it to relocate into a temporary trailer on the lawn nearby. Three years later, the town court is still located in the trailer.
In his resignation letter, Blain made a point of mentioning the trailer:
Enclosed you will find the keys to the construction trailer that we have been operating out of for the last three years. In the trailer you will also find my checkbook to the court in the top drawer of the filing cabinet closest to the computer. Please mail me my last payroll check, and my expense checks that are due to me to my address on file with the Town.
After the flood, more tragedy struck. In May of 2013, Prattsville's other town judge, Donald Olson, was killed in a car crash in Windham.
The Windham Journal article points out that the comptroller's audit report reviewed the Prattsville Court's books from January 1, 2011 to June 29, 2012 -- the period when Tropical Storm Irene destroyed the court's offices.
But the comptroller's report indicates that the court's finances were in disarray long before Irene. Undeposited checks dating to 2008 were found in the court's files, according to the report.
Serving as a Prattsville justice and court clerk was a Blain family tradition. Judith Ann Blain, Robert J. Blain Sr.'s wife and Michelle Blain's mother, served as both justice and clerk before her death in December 2011, according to her obituary.
Documents:
Stipulation between CJC and Blain. dated July 11 and released August 4, 3014
a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/236716328/Blain-robert-J-2014-07-09-STIP" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Blain.robert.J.2014.07.09.STIP on Scribd">Blain.robert.J.2014.07.09.STIP by Watershed Post
Commission Decision and Order regarding Judge Robert Blain of Prattsville by Watershed Post
NYS Comptroller's report on Town of Prattsville Justice Court, January 1, 2011 — June 29, 2012 by Watershed Post
