Sheeran elected president of New York State Magistrate's Association

Niagara University Press Release

Dr. Thomas Sheeran, a justice in the Town of Lewiston, was elected to the position of president of the New York State Magistrate’s Association at the annual conference in September.

Sheeran is a native of New York City’s borough of Queens and grew up in Katonah in Westchester County’s Town of Bedford. A graduate of Ithaca College, Sheeran possesses advanced degrees from Ithaca College and Niagara University, and a doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Elected town justice in 1992, Sheeran was reelected to his ninth consecutive four-year term in 2023.

A longtime member of the faculty of education at Niagara University, Sheeran is the author of dozens of articles, books and monographs, and has presented papers and workshops across the U.S., Canada and Asia. He is a member or fellow of many professional education and judicial societies and has served in various capacities in the New York State Magistrates Association.

That association, comprising approximately 2,110 judges and representing over 1,200 town and village courts, is one of the largest judicial associations in the U.S.

Additionally, Sheeran has served as a member of the senior faculty for the New York State Judicial Institute’s continuing education program for town and village justices, presenting programs in various venues across the state. In 2008, Sheeran was appointed by the chief administrative judge to the advisory committee on judicial ethics, becoming the first non-attorney to serve on that committee.

Sheeran has been married to his wife, Maureen, for 54 years. They have two children: Meaghan and Brendan; and two grandchildren: Jack and Rian.