The Hon. Elizabeth A. Burns is a judge for the Cortland City Court in Cortland County in the Sixth Judicial District of New York. She was elected to the City Court bench in 2013. Her prior judicial experience includes serving as a part-time judge for the Cortland City Court, a position she was first appointed to in 1998 and held until 2001.
She is a registered Democrat.
Judge Burns graduated with a B.A. in political science from Syracuse University in 1988. She went on to earn her J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 1991.
Prior to her election to the City Court, Burns was appointed to serve as a court attorney referee and special counsel for the town and village courts in all counties associated with the Sixth Judicial District by the Hon. Robert Mulvey, former Administrative Judge of the Sixth Judicial District in 2011.
Her other legal experience includes serving as an assistant county attorney with the Cortland County Attorney’s Office, a sole practitioner at her own law firm, and an attorney with Legal Services in both Broome and Chenango counties. While in private practice, Burns specialized in civil matters involving real estate transactions, matrimonial and family law, trusts, wills and estates, business law, personal injury, and bankruptcies.
During her tenure on the City Court, Judge Burns has presided over the Cortland City Drug Treatment Court.
Judge Burns was born and raised in Cortland, New York. Her mother served on the Cortland County legislature for several years, and her father helped build the I-81 Interstate Highway.