WESTCHESTER, NY — After 14 years as Westchester County Surrogate, Judge Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. has announced that he is stepping down from the bench effective January 31st. Scarpino, who began his judicial career in 1984 at age 32 when he was appointed Associate City Court Judge in his home town of Mount Vernon, NY, said that upon leaving the bench he will enter private practice in a senior level position at a regional law firm.
Judge Scarpino has extensive judicial experience at the municipal, county, regional and state levels. A year after being appointed a judge in Mount Vernon, in 1985 he became the youngest person ever elected a Mount Vernon City Judge running on the Democratic, Republican and Conservative lines. In 1986 he became Senior City Judge, presiding over one of the busiest city courts in Westchester County.
In 1988, running as a Democrat, Judge Scarpino was elected a Westchester County Court Judge, at 37, at the time the youngest County Court Judge in Westchester history. In July 1989, he was appointed Acting Supreme Court Justice and was assigned to expand the Special Narcotics Part in the Westchester County Courthouse. Two years later he was reassigned to preside over the county’s most serious criminal cases.
In 1993 he was elected to the New York State Supreme Court for the Ninth Judicial District which covers Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Orange counties. He was assigned to handle Civil Parts in Westchester and Rockland and later was assigned to Special Matrimonial Parts. In 1999 he was assigned to both criminal and civil cases.
In November 2000, Judge Scarpino was elected Westchester County Surrogate and he was re-elected in 2010. In this capacity, he is the sole judge for estate cases in Westchester County. In addition to his responsibilities as Surrogate, in 2006 he was appointed Supervising Judge of the Matrimonial Part for Westchester County, and in 2010 he was appointed Supervising Judge for Article 81 guardianship proceedings for the Ninth District.
An Adjunct Professor at Pace University Law School, Judge Scarpino teaches at Iona College’s Criminal Justice Department, as well as at Mercy College and Westchester Community College. He serves as Co-Chair of the Ninth Judicial District’s Pro Bono Committee and is a member of the Pace University Law School Board of Visitors and the Office of Court Administration Article 81 Guardianship Committee.
He has been recognized by many organizations including the Westchester County Bar Association, the Westchester Women’s Bar Association, the Columbian Lawyers Association and Iona College for his achievements, his service to the legal community and his pro bono service.
A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Judge Scarpino earned his law degree from the Syracuse University College of Law. After graduating he opened his private practice and became an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Mount Vernon. In 1977 he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation and became a Special Agent. While with the FBI he worked on a wide range of cases including civil rights violations, corruption of public officials, bank robberies, kidnapping, extortion and foreign counter-intelligence. He also involved in several highly publicized cases including the capture of Leon Johnson, who had escaped from Federal prison and was to have been placed on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list on the day of his apprehension. He left the FBI after five years and worked as an Assistant Vice President with Banker’s Trust Company before his judicial career began in Mount Vernon.
Judge Scarpino plans begin the next chapter in his long career in the first quarter of 2015.
