The Text

The existing County Courts are continued, and the Judges thereof now in office shall hold their offices until the expiration of their respective terms. In the county of Kings there shall be four County Judges. The number of County Judges in any county may also be increased, from time to time, by the Legislature, to such number that the total number of County Judges in any one county shall not exceed one for every two hundred thousand, or major fraction thereof, of the population of such county. The additional County Judges in the county of Kings shall be chosen at the general election held in the first odd-numbered year after the adoption of this amendment. The additional County Judges whose offices may be created by the Legislature shall be chosen at the general election held in the first odd-numbered year after the creation of such office. All County Judges, including successors to existing Judges, shall be chosen by the electors of the counties for the term of six years from and including the first day of January following their election. County Courts shall have the powers and jurisdiction they now possess, and also original jurisdiction in actions for the recovery of money only, where the defendants reside in the county, and in which the complaint demands judgment for a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars. The Legislature may hereafter enlarge or restrict the jurisdiction of the County Courts, provided, however, that their jurisdiction shall not be so extended as to authorize an action therein for the recovery of money only, in which the sum demanded exceeds two thousand dollars, or in which any person not a resident of the county is a defendant. Courts of Sessions, except in the county of New York, are abolished from and after the last day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-five. All the jurisdiction of the Court of Sessions in each county, except the county of New York, shall thereupon be vested in the County Court thereof, and all actions and proceedings then pending in such Courts of Sessions shall be transferred to the said County Courts for hearing and determination. Every County Judge shall perform such duties as they may be required by law. His salary shall be established by law, payable out of the county treasury. A County Judge of any county may hold County Courts in any other county when requested by the judge of such other county.