Joseph Nowakowski Removed

Joseph Nowakowski, a Town Justice for the Bethany Town Court in Genesee County, New York, resigned effective June 1, 2024, while under investigation by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct for sexual harassment. According to the Commission, Nowakowski sent a court clerk unwanted text messages unrelated to her official duties; when the clerk asked him to stop, he allegedly retaliated by seeking to have her terminated from her court employment. As part of his resignation, Nowakowski signed a stipulation agreeing to never seek or accept judicial office in New York again. Nowakowski, who is not an attorney, became a judge in 2022; his term was set to expire in 2025.