| New York State Unified Court System |
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Court of Appeals |
The New York State Court of Claims is the court which handles all claims against the State of New York and certain state agencies. It is not a small claims court. Judges of the Court of Claims are appointed by the Governor of New York and confirmed by the State Senate for a 9-year term. While there are Judges of the Court of Claims who handle only claims against the state, there are many Judges of the Court of Claims who are appointed to this post and then assigned to serve as an Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, generally in the criminal term of the court. This is done to increase the number of trial judges in the state for felony crimes, as it can be easier for Legislators to vote to increase the number of Court of Claims judges than Supreme Court Justices in view of differences in the manner of selecting the judges.