Christopher Folk has resigned as Waterloo town justice and assistant Seneca County attorney, effective Sept. 30.
He said his future plans may be clearer next week.
“While I will be leaving the bench at the end of September, I will continue to be a part of my local community and the new roles that I undertake will be purposeful to help ensure that I will remain a positive fixture, a voice of reason and will try to help improve our community and the role of government,” Folk said in an email.
He said that after former State Sen. Mike Nozzolio announced in 2016 that he was not seeking re-election, he created an exploratory committee to look into the feasibility of a run for Nozzolio’s seat. Folk met with Republican Party chairmen in the 54th District and attended larger party meetings.
“I was present at the nominating convention at Club 86 and ultimately was not able to garner sufficient support to move forward in the process,” Folk said. “I was engaged in this while I was a judge and although I had received initial opinions from the Judicial Ethics Commission, this ultimately resulted in some displeasure from the ethics committee as well as in Albany due to some statements I made regarding my views concerning the New York SAFE Act.”
Folk said that resulted in him being involved in a hearing and fact-finding session with the Office of Court Administration over the past 18 months.
