Emilia Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper the Chatham Village Board agreed January 11, to hold a public hearing on a proposed local law that would abolish the village justice position, thereby dissolving the village court. The public hearing will be held next month. The board vote on the measure will be held after the hearing and if approved, the court would be dissolved as of April 5. But because of changes in state election law, if a petition circulated in opposition to the change after that vote receives the support of 20 percent of village residents, instead of sending the matter to the voters to decide, it would effectively kill the new law. The board would have to wait another four years to make the change. The village of Chatham is situated in the towns of Chatham and Ghent, each of which has a court where cases would be heard if the village court is dissolved. The public hearing will be held at 6:45 p.m., on February 8, before the regular village board meeting. The meetings are currently held online. Information on how to join the meeting is available at villageofchatham [dot] com. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.