Mission Statement
The County Attorney is counsel for the County of Sullivan and for all County officials, boards, divisions, commissioners, department heads, and employees.
The County Attorney may be compared to the General Counsel of a private corporation or to the Corporation Counsel of a City. With the exception of matters handled by the County’s Family Services Attorneys, the County Attorney’s Office, either directly, or through of-counsel relationships, is responsible for all of the County’s civil legal work.
The Office receives no funding from outside agencies; however, it does receive funding through chargebacks to other County departments.
The position of County Attorney is required by New York State County Law and the Sullivan County Charter. Pursuant to the Charter, the individual appointed as County Attorney must work full time for the County and have no outside employment. The County Attorney has a fixed term coinciding with the term of the Legislature.
The County Attorney’s Office has the following general responsibilities:
- Represent the Sullivan County Legislature, County Manager, Commissioners, Department Heads and County employees on myriad legal issues
- Represent the County, officials and employees in all Federal, State and local civil litigations and State and Federal administrative proceedings,
- Provide general legal advice and counsel to County officials, divisions, departments and employees
- Prepare Local Laws and Resolutions to reflect the changing needs of the County
- Prepare and/or review of all contracts authorized by the County Legislature
- Assist and represent appointing authorities with respect to disciplinary matters, including, prosecution and settlement
- Assist with real property issues including tax foreclosures, tax certioraris, bankruptcies, environmental and tax exemption claims
- Undertake confidential investigations
- Coordinate with the County Manager to implement Legislative directives, including the review and update of legislative
Current Staff
County Attorney, Robert H. Freehill
Deputy County Attorney, Thomas Cawley
Assistant County Attorney, Robert L. Zangla
Assistant County Attorney, Khalid Bashjawish
Assistant County Attorney, Kristin Hackett
Assistant County Attorney, Steven Goldberg
Assistant County Attorney, Sharon Jankiewicz
Paralegal, April Lapidus-Rieber
Investigator, Anna Lemmerman
Administrative Secretary, Jessica Dayton
Legal Typist, Lillian Carbonaro
