Press Release Archives - 550-96 City's New Sheriff

Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 25, 1996

Release #550-96

Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Deirdra l. Picou (212) 788-2971

MAYOR GIULIANI ANNOUNCES TERESA MASON CITY'S NEW SHERIFF

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today appointed Teresa Mason as the City's new Sheriff. Ms. Mason, who is currently the Department of Finance's Special Counsel for Adjudications, will be responsible for the overall administration of the City's 300 person Sheriff's Office, including collection of private and public judgment debt and the Sheriff's towing operation.

"Teresa Mason has proven time and time again that she is committed to serving the people of New York City," Mayor Giuliani said. "Her diverse professional background, first as a member of the Bronx D.A.'s office and then as a part of the State's and City's Finance Departments, makes her the ideal candidate for this position. Her career as a public servant has been a distinguished one and I am certain she will exhibit the same dedication and talent as City Sheriff."

"I am grateful to Mayor Giuliani for this wonderful and challenging opportunity to serve New York City," Ms. Mason said. "I have dedicated my entire legal career to public service and it is my intention to use my law enforcement and administrative experience to expand upon the current activities of the Sheriff's Office. We have a great team in place and I look forward to continuing to work with Finance Commissioner Cerullo as we move toward improving justice in this City."

The Office of the Sheriff, a division of the Department of Finance, serves as the chief civil law enforcement agency for the City. The Office has jurisdiction over family, small claims, civil and supreme court enforcement actions. Last year, the Sheriff's Division and the Administration for Children's Services' Office of Child Support Enforcement established the Family Court Unit to serve court summonses and make arrests in child support delinquency cases.

Ms. Mason has been with the Department of Finance since December 1995. As Special Counsel for Adjudications, she was responsible for the overall supervision of more than 400 Administrative Law Judges. In her role as Special Counsel for Adjudications, she was the legislative liaison for the New York City Consolidation Project -- the City's effort to provide one-stop shopping for licensing and payment of fines. She spent six years at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Office of Tax Enforcement, first serving as the Director of the Revenue Crimes Bureau from 1988 to 1991 and then as Assistant Deputy Commissioner from 1991 to 1995.

From 1982 to 1988, Ms. Mason worked in the Bronx District Attorney's Office where she served as a trial attorney and then supervising trial attorney. Ms. Mason was promoted to Deputy Bureau Chief in June 1988, where she managed the overall daily operation of two Supreme Court Trial Units.

Teresa Mason is a member of the National Bar Association, the Queens County Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the Black Bar Association of Bronx County. Her other professional affiliations have included the Association of the Bar of the City of New York - Lawyers in Transition Program, the New York Women's Foundation and the Black Attorney Managers Informal Roundtable.

Ms. Mason received her undergraduate degree from St. John's University (B.S. 1979) and her law degree from Howard University School of Law (J.D. 1982). During law school, she served as a law intern for the United States Department of Justice from 1980 to 1982.

Joining Ms. Mason at the Blue Room announcement were her mother, Mamie, her brothers, James, Henry and Marshall, and her sister, Cathy.