Hon. John V. Centra to be Honored by Onondaga County Bar Association
Sept 12, 2018

Associate Justice Hon. John V. Centra

The Onondaga County Bar Association has announced that it will present its esteemed Ruger Award to Hon. John V. Centra, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, at its Annual Dinner on Thursday, October 25, 2018. The Ruger Award is given to judicial officers who demonstrate singularly outstanding achievement in devotion to the principles of our system of justice. Since its 1975 inception, only nine people have been honored with the Ruger Award, named after the first president of the Onondaga County Bar Association, William C. Ruger, who later became Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals.

Justice Centra is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo and received his Juris Doctor degree from Ohio Northern Law School. Following his admission to the Bar in 1984, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Onondaga County in the felony trial and DWI units. In 1988, he began a 10-year career as Town Justice for the Town of DeWitt. In 1989, he entered the private practice of law with Carni, Centra & Rose from 1989 to 1991; Primo, Primo & Centra from 1992 to 1997; and Primo, Primo, Centra & Kirwan, LLP from 1998 to 1999. In May 1999, Governor George Pataki appointed him to serve on the New York State Supreme Court in Onondaga County, and he was elected to that office for a term beginning in January 2000. While on the Supreme Court, Justice Centra served as Deputy Administrative Judge for the Fifth Judicial District and as Chairman of the Onondaga County Jury Board. He also served as a Judicial Delegate to the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. On October 6, 2006, Governor Pataki designated him to serve as an Additional Justice on the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, to which he was reelected in 2013. Justice Centra is a member of the New York Bar Association, a member and Past President of the New York State Magistrates Association, and the New York State Trial Lawyers Association.

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