SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Typically, Thomas Cawley, Sullivan County deputy county attorney and parliamentarian, sits off the podium to the left of the legislature. He might go unnoticed, hidden behind a column, until his voice, amplified by a small handheld microphone, cuts through to settle a legislative back-and-forth with his legal directive.  

This constant presence, who has worked in the county attorney’s office since 1993, announced at the October 24 full board legislative session that he would be retiring soon after the 2024 election.

Prior to working in the county attorney’s office, Cawley began his career in the Sullivan County District Attorney’s office working under Steve Lungen. Cawley was the assistant county attorney from 1993 to 2016 and deputy county attorney since 2017. 

Cawley also serves in the role of county parliamentarian to advise the county legislature on roles and procedures. As the parliamentarian, it’s his job to ensure legislators follow legal and procedural conduct. It can put him in the middle of legislative disagreements. 

In his retirement, Cawley said, he’s looking forward to getting to the beach with his wife. “We’re so understaffed here, it’s a bit crazy that it’s hard for me to get away for a week or two. We’re both beach people, so we’re thinking maybe somewhere near the Jersey Shore.”

The camaraderie and people are what Cawley said he’ll miss most about working for the county. “There’s a lot of really good people; some of my best friends are from here.”

Cawley said, “I don’t like knowing where all the rocks and certain slugs are located. Everything bad and wrong that happens at the county funnels its way from the county attorney’s office, and we deal with the family court stuff and removals and abuse, and it’s a lot of sh*t I could do without. It’s a lot of really angsty, bad stuff that we deal with.”

“I have a long-standing joke when I meet guys from public works or the jail,” he said.  The guys will ask how come they’ve never met before and Cawley said, “That’s probably a good thing, because when we contact rank and file, it means you’re a target of the charges, or you’re a witness to an event we’re bringing you into, or you’re being sued,” he told the River Reporter.

Cawley, who said he became the attorney he is from his training at the district attorney’s office, has been critical about the office diverging from the vertical structure he worked under. 

He said the vertical structure, where DAs see their cases from start to finish, allowed him to try felony cases in his first year. The current horizontal structure, he says, keeps assistant DAs doing misdemeanor work and having little control over cases.

Cawley spoke about this in 2023 when he ran for Sullivan County District Attorney in the Republican primary against the county’s current district attorney, Brian Conaty. 

At the time, Cawley switched from the Democratic party to the Republicans. On a WJFF radio airing at the time he said, “The Democratic party I grew up in is very different than what it is today… they’ve been making very bad decisions in terms of law and order and bail reform,” which no longer aligned with his beliefs. 

County attorney Robert Freehill said he doesn’t know who will replace Cawley as parliamentarian. The legislature, which has the authority to appoint the parliamentarian, has not yet asked Freehill to recommend anyone for the role.