2026 New York General Election

Stephen J. Smith

Stephen Smith, Village of Washingtonville judge since 2004, is retired from Orange & Rockland Utilities and doesn't see his lack of a legal degree as an obstacle in his ability to serve as a judge. The former village trustee believes that his intimate knowledge of the community — he's lived here since 1973 — has made him a fair village judge, and he would do the same if he's elected to the four-year term on the Blooming Grove bench.

Justice race weighs value of experience

Stephen J. Smith has lived in the community since 1973.

Orange County 2026 election candidates, full ballot and voting guide

Stephen J. Smith is retired from Orange & Rockland Utilities.

TOWN OFFICE TERM ELECTED OFFICIAL ELECTED EXPIRES
Blooming Grove Supervisor 2 yrs Robert C Jeroloman 11/4/2025 2026
Blooming Grove Town Clerk 2 yrs Darlena E Decker 11/4/2025 2026
Blooming Grove Town Justice 4 yrs Christopher J Turpin 11/4/2025 2029
Blooming Grove Town Justice 4 yrs Stephen J Smith 11/8/2022 2026
Blooming Grove Council Member Ward 1 2 yrs Cathy A Gregg-Acevedo 11/4/2025 2026

Orange County Board of Elections - 2026 Town/City/Village Elected Officials with new terms of office (PDF)

TOWN OFFICE TERM PARTY ELECTED OFFICIAL ELECTED EXPIRES
Blooming Grove Supervisor 2 yrs R Robert Jeroloman 11/7/2017 2019
Blooming Grove Town Clerk 2 yrs R Darlena E Decker 11/7/2017 2019
Blooming Grove Town Justice 4 yrs R Christopher J Turpin 11/7/2017 2021
Blooming Grove Town Justice 4 yrs R Stephen J Smith 11/4/2014 2018
Blooming Grove Councilman Ward 1 2 yrs D Jason Kramer 11/7/2017 2019

Orange County Board of Elections - 2018 Town/City/Village Elected Officials (PDF)

Town of Blooming Grove Justices
Christopher J. Turpin
Stephen J. Smith

Judges are elected officials with an office term of four (4) years.

JUSTICE SMITH'S CALENDAR
Criminal Court- 1st Thursday of month, 10:00am
Vehicle & Traffic Court- 2nd Wednesday of month, 10:00am
Civil Court- 2nd Wednesday of month, 10:30am

Justice Court

Stephen currently serves as a Blooming Grove Town Justice. He was elected in 2022; Orange County records also list him as elected to the office in 2014.

Justice Court - Town of Blooming Grove

LinkedIn

Buket Urgen

Blooming Grove Town Justice 4 yrs R Christopher J Turpin 14 Emerson Dr. Washingtonville, NY 10992 11/2/2021 2025
Blooming Grove Town Justice 4 yrs R Stephen J Smith 5 Goldsmith Ct Washingtonville, NY 10992 11/8/2022 2026

Town-Offices-2023-for-the-web (Orange County Board of Elections)

Stephen J. Smith was listed at a Washingtonville address in 2023.

Blooming Grove — The town justice race, pitting a practicing lawyer against a public servant without a law degree, has brought closer to home a statewide debate recently highlighted in the national media.

A New York Times investigation last month revealed years of judicial mistakes and mishaps in town and village courts and put the blame on unqualified justices. Nearly two-thirds of the justices serving on the bench at the state's 1,250 local courts are not lawyers, the newspaper investigation found.

Stephen Smith, Village of Washingtonville judge since 2004, is retired from Orange & Rockland Utilities and doesn't see his lack of a legal degree as an obstacle in his ability to serve as a judge. The former village trustee believes that his intimate knowledge of the community — he's lived here since 1973 — has made him a fair village judge, and he would do the same if he's elected to the four-year term on the Blooming Grove bench. He said he also would continue to fill his village justice role, which doesn't expire until 2010.

Blooming Grove Town Justice 4 yrs R Christopher J Turpin 14 Emerson Dr. Washingtonville, NY 10992 11/2/2021 2025
Blooming Grove Town Justice 4 yrs R Stephen J Smith 5 Goldsmith Ct Washingtonville, NY 10992 11/6/2018 2022

Orange County Board of Elections - 2022 Town/City/Village Elected Officials (Town-Offices-2022-for-the-web)

Stephen currently serves as Blooming Grove Town Justice. He was elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, beginning his second four-year term. He also served as a Village of Washingtonville judge beginning in 2004.