Judge James Tormey III dies: Chief of CNY's 300 judges and former county legislator

Syracuse, NY -- James Tormey III, who supervised 300 Central New York judges for nearly two decades, died Saturday afternoon following a brief illness, a fellow judge told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

Tormey, 68, of Syracuse, died at Crouse Hospital at 12:30 p.m., surrounded by close friends and family, said Gerald Neri, a state Supreme Court Justice who worked directly for Tormey for many years. Neri said he was at the judge’s bedside at the time.

No replacement has been named yet as the Fifth Judicial District’s chief administrator, a role Tormey held for 19 years. For now, Michael Coccoma, who is chief administrative judge outside of New York City, will fill in. Eventually, the court system will appoint Tormey’s replacement from among the ranks of Supreme Court justices in the six-county region.

Only two weeks ago, Tormey was at work in his office inside the Onondaga County Courthouse, Neri said. He took some time off starting June 7 for minor medical issues, and never returned. He died a week short of his 69th birthday.

Read more: https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/06/judge-james-tormey-iii-dies-chief-of-cnys-300-judges-and-former-county-legislator.html