Bowne v. County of Nassau

Section 256 of the Executive Law (L 1971, ch 387) places the Probation Department of Nassau County un der the supervision and control of the county executive. Prior to the effective date of this statute, this power had been exercised by the judiciary originally on the local level and later by the Judicial Conference. The petitioners, employees of the department, claim that the current statute violates article VI of the State Constitution. The question is whether the Probation Department is constitutionally part of the unified court system as defined in section 28 of article VI of the…