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Hon. Rachel Kretser

Judge Rachel Kretser was appointed to the Albany City Criminal Court in December 2005, and was elected to that position in November, 2006, becoming the first woman ever to serve full time on a criminal court bench in the Third Judicial District.  Before her ascension to the bench, Judge Kretser was an Assistant Attorney General for mor than twenty-five years, serving in the Litigation Bureau, as Deputy Bureau Chief of the Legislative Bureau, and Bureau Chief of both the Albany Consumer Frauds Bureau and Legislative Bureau, and Bureau Chief of both the Albany Consumer Frauds Bureau and the Legal Education and Staff Development Bureau.  Prior to joining the Attorney General's Office, Judge Kretser was associated with the manhattan law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Judge Kretser is active in numberous professional and community organization.  She is Vice President of the National Association of Women Judge, N.Y. Chapter, and Vice President of the N.Y.S. Association of City Court Judges.  She is also an offer of the NYS Bar Association (NYSBA) Judicial Section.  In 2003, she was elected Vice President of NYSBA, representing the Third Judicial District, and was reelected to the position each year through the 2009 term.  She is Past President of the Women's B ar Association of the State of New York (1995-1996) and Past President of the Capital District Women's Bar Association (1991-1992).  Judge Kretser is a founding member of the CDWBA Legal Project and the Women's Bar Foundation, and is a Fellow of the NYS Bar Foundation.  A former Director of the Fund for Modern Courts, she also serves on the Board of the Center for Women in Government and the Honorary Board of the Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Association.  Judge Kretser is a member of the Albany County Bar Association, the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association and the Women Pilots Association.  She serves on the steering committee of the Brandeis Baruch Society and is a member of the United Jewis Federation of NENY.

Judge Krester was appointed to a number of state and federal judicial screening panels and Office of Court Administration committees.  In 1993, seh was appointed by then Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Joseph J. Traficanti, Jr. to the OCA committee on City Courts, and was reappointed to that Committee by Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Jan Plumadore in 2008.  In 1994, she was appointed to the Federal Bankruptcy Jedge Merit Selection Panel by Jon O. Newman, chief Judge of the Second Circuit court of Appeals.  Judge Kretser was appointed by Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye to the Third Department Judicial Screening Panel in 1996, and served on that committee for ten years.  In 1997, she was appointed to the Third Judicial District Litigation Task Force by Justice Joseph Teresi; and was appointed to the Northern District Magistrate Selection Committee in 2001 by Hon. Frederick Scullin, Jr., Chief U.S. District Judge for the Northern District.  Judge Kretser was appointed to the Third Judicial District Gender Fairness Committee in 1988 by Justice Karen Peters and reappointed by Justices George Ceresia and Leslie Stein.

Through her public service and volunteer activities, Judge Kretser has worked to provide increased access to legal services for victims of abuse and to expand education and services for breast cancer victims.  In recognition of her dedication to the profession and to the community, she has received a number of prestigious awards including the Ruth Shapiro Memorial Award from the NYS Bar Association, the marily Menge Award from the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York, the Woman of Excellence Award from the Albany-Coline Chamber of Commerce, the Kate Stoneman Award from Albany Law School, the Distinguised Member Award from the Capital District Women's Bar Association, and the Distinguised Service Award from the NYS Attorney General.

Judge Kretser is a licensed private pilot.