What we filed, county by county.

• Six Questions to Ask Before a Vote on Kratom PDFSeptember 30, 2026

  Three pages to print or hand out: the six questions from the video series, the key numbers, and where New York stands, with sources.

  Note: this brief was checked September 30, 2026. Its DEA figures describe the July 2026 proposal, which was replaced on October 9. See the update on the explainer series page.

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Adopted unamended on Tuesday, September 8, 2026 with fifteen votes in favour. A motion to table and a floor amendment adding a sunset clause both failed. County Executive McLaughlin held the required public hearing on Thursday, September 24, 2026 in East Greenbush and has since signed the law, WNYT reported on October 2, 2026. It takes effect on filing with the Secretary of State.

• Proposed amendment to Local Law T-4: aim it at concentrated and synthetic 7-OH PDFOctober 5, 2026 Download
• Written statement for the County Executive's September 24 hearing on Local Law T-4 PDFSeptember 2026

  One page for the record of the public hearing County Executive McLaughlin holds before he signs or vetoes T-4, on Thursday, September 24 at 5:00 p.m. in East Greenbush. Asks for a veto returned with the S8925-A limits, sets the decision beside Dutchess County, where a County Executive who had proposed a full ban signed the narrower 7-OH law instead, and lists two drafting errors in the adopted text along with the missing clause deferring to state law. Accompanies the September 11 letter and the follow-up to it.

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• Follow-up letter to County Executive McLaughlin, for the September 24 hearing record PDFSeptember 23, 2026

  One page to the County Executive, copied to the County Attorney, asking that it and the September 11 letter be entered in the record of his public hearing. Reports that Dutchess County's 7-OH law has since been signed by a County Executive who had first proposed a full ban, and points to two errors in T-4 as adopted, the misspelled alkaloid in the Section 3 definition and the agency misnamed in the Section 2 findings, which a veto with a message would let the County correct without taking a position on the policy.

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• Letter to County Executive McLaughlin: a request for a veto with a message PDFSeptember 11, 2026

  Two pages to County Executive McLaughlin, expanding on a comment filed through the county's web form after the vote. Asks for a veto of T-4 returned with a message recommending the S8925-A thresholds the State Legislature has already passed, and sets out why a veto would hold: eleven of nineteen members sponsored the law and thirteen votes are needed to override. Also points out that T-4 reaches shops inside the county but not sellers shipping in by mail. Encloses the proposed substitute text below, the Dutchess filed text and the Albany Emergency Order.

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• Proposed substitute text for Local Law T-4, sent to the County Executive PDFSeptember 2026

  One page to County Executive McLaughlin after adoption, asking for a veto with a message. It keeps every enforcement provision of T-4 as passed and sets out five changes that aim them at concentrated and synthetic 7-OH products: a replacement definition at the state thresholds, a delivery clause covering online sales into the county, a clause voiding the law once the State acts, and a thirty day sell-through period. Written so the language can be lifted into any county text.

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• What happened on September 8: a rundown of the vote on Local Law T-4 PDFSeptember 8, 2026

  Two pages on the meeting itself: the three people who spoke against a blanket ban, the motion to table that failed 8 to 9, the sunset amendment that failed, and the 15 to 2 adoption vote, with what the ten day veto window and the thirteen vote override threshold mean for what comes next. Prepared from the county livestream and its automatic captions, so the individual roll-call names should be checked against the Clerk's record before being quoted.

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• Letter to the eight non-sponsoring legislators: a floor amendment for September 8 PDFAugust 24, 2026

  Two pages to the Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader and six other members who did not sponsor T-4, the only members positioned to put an alternative before the body. Sets out the threshold amendment and why a floor motion is the workable route when there is no public hearing before the vote.

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• Letter to the sponsors of Local Law T-4: four questions for counsel and one commitment PDFAugust 24, 2026

  One page to Legislator Patire and the ten co-sponsors, including the Chairwoman. Accepts the case against concentrates, then raises four drafting points in the filed text that deserve the County Attorney's attention before adoption.

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• Technical note for the County Attorney on Local Law T-4 (Intro) of 2026 PDFAugust 24, 2026

  Section-by-section questions on authority, the relationship to the December 2025 state laws and S8925-A, and the penalty structure. Sent directly to the County Attorney's office rather than filed as public comment.

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• Rensselaer County kratom backgrounder, August 2026 PDFAugust 24, 2026

  Two pages on the distinction every threshold is built on: where federal and New York State law have drawn the line between concentrated 7-OH products and natural leaf, with dates and citations. Enclosed with both letters.

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The Public Safety Committee approved Introductory No. 6 on September 4, 2026, and the Board of Supervisors introduced it on September 15, 2026 under Resolution 257. The Clerk of the Board has noticed a public hearing for Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 4:30pm at 40 McMaster Street, Ballston Spa, where all persons wishing to speak will be heard; written comments are due by 3:30pm that day. The Public Safety Committee meets again October 6.

• Letter to the Board of Supervisors: amend Introductory No. 6 before the October 14 hearing PDFSeptember 15, 2026

  One page to all members of the Board through the Clerk, filed as written comment for the public hearing. Asks that the law be amended before adoption to prohibit concentrated and synthetic 7-OH products rather than natural leaf, and corrects the committee record, which listed Dutchess among counties that acted against kratom when its law sets a 7-OH threshold and leaves leaf legal for adults. Answers the resolution's description of kratom as unregulated with the state age-21 and labeling rules and S8925-A, and points to Ulster, the Village of Menands and Suffolk as threshold or amended laws. The Dutchess filed text was enclosed.

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• Saratoga County Public Safety Committee agenda packet, September 1, 2026 PDFSeptember 1, 2026

  The county's own 147-page packet, including the full text of Introductory No. 6 and the draft Board resolution dated September 15. Large file, about 17 MB. This is the document every section citation on the Saratoga page refers to.

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• Letter to the Public Safety Committee: amend Introductory No. 6 before introduction PDFAugust 31, 2026

  Two pages to Chairman Ostrander and the six committee members ahead of the September 1 meeting. Flags the gap between the agenda wording and the filed draft, asks for a 7-OH threshold in place of a leaf prohibition, and points to the Dutchess and Albany definitions as ready-made language.

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• Technical note for the County Attorney on Introductory No. 6 PDFAugust 31, 2026

  Six drafting questions on the filed text, each tied to a section: state-law conflict under Section 4(E), the missing home rule recital, the FDA exception in 4(F), the misdemeanor penalty in Section 6, the findings in Section 1, and the absence of a concentration line. Sent to the County Attorney and enclosed with the committee letter.

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• Reference sheet: Dutchess County Resolution 2026136 PDFAugust 31, 2026

  One-page summary of the Dutchess law offered to Saratoga as a working New York model: what it prohibits, the thresholds, how the Legislature's concentrate limit differed from the County Executive's full-ban announcement, and where to request the certified text. Reusable for any county.

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Emergency Public Health Order No. 1 of 2026 prohibits the sale, distribution and delivery of all kratom in the county, natural leaf included, effective September 1, 2026. Section 1(c) also carries a narrower 7-OH threshold prohibition that continues if the categorical one is set aside, and the Order asks the County Legislature to pass a local law. The Village of Menands will not adopt its own law: at its September 8, 2026 meeting the Mayor said, on the Village Attorney's advice, that a village law was not needed with the county Order in place, so the village draft on concentrated and synthetic 7-OH was never introduced. The September 21 village hearing was on an unrelated local law.

• Village of Menands: comment in support of Local Law No. 7 of 2026 PDFSeptember 16, 2026

  One page to the Village Clerk for the Mayor and Board of Trustees, for the September 21 public hearing. Supports Local Law No. 7 as drafted, which prohibits synthetic and concentrated 7-OH products and in Section 139-4 keeps natural kratom available to adults, and asks the Board to keep that section as written. Raises one technical point for the Village Attorney: Section 139-3(C)(1) measures 7-OH by product weight, which diluted gummies and drinks can slip under, where S8925-A and Dutchess measure it as a share of total alkaloids with a 1 mg per serving limit. The Dutchess filed text was enclosed. Status: the Village dropped this proposal on September 8, 2026, before it was introduced, and deferred to the Albany County order.

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• Letter to the Albany County Legislature: local legislation under Section 7(3) of the Emergency Order PDFAugust 27, 2026

  One page to Chairwoman Cunningham and the Legislature. The Emergency Order itself invites a local law to supersede it; this letter asks the Legislature to take up that invitation and suggests the threshold language it could carry.

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• Reference sheet: Dutchess County Resolution 2026136, prepared for Albany County PDFAugust 27, 2026

  One-page summary of the Dutchess law as a working New York model, with a closing paragraph written for Albany. Enclosed with the letter above.

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Proposed Local Law No. 16 of 2026 would reach only concentrated and synthetic 7-OH above 2 percent of total alkaloids or 1 mg per serving, not natural leaf. Legislators voted on September 3, 2026 to postpone consideration, and on September 21 the measure was back before the Legislature. On October 2 the Legislature posted Resolution No. 480.1, which would hold the public hearing on Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at 7:05 PM in Kingston instead of October 20. It is referred to the Health, Human Services and Human Rights Committee and to the Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee and still needs approval from both committees and the full Legislature.

• Letter to the Health and Laws committees: support for Proposed Local Law No. 16 PDFOctober 5, 2026 Download
• Letter to the Clerk of the Legislature: where Proposed Local Law No. 16 stands PDFSeptember 22, 2026

  One page to Clerk Victoria Fabella stating support for Proposed Local Law No. 16 as drafted, then asking three things: where Resolution No. 480 and the local law stand, whether the October 20 hearing date still holds, and how to submit written comment so it reaches members when the measure is taken up.

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Adopted August 10, 2026 as Local Law No. 6 of 2026 (introduced as Resolution 2026136) and signed in September by County Executive Serino, who had first proposed a full ban. It prohibits products with 7-OH above 2 percent of total alkaloids or 1 mg per serving, along with named synthetic compounds; plain leaf falls below those limits and stays legal for adults 21 and over. The Legislature posted its Notice of Adoption on September 14. The law takes effect when filed with the Secretary of State, which had not happened as of September 28.

• Reference sheet: Dutchess County Resolution 2026136 PDFAugust 24, 2026

  The general version of the one-page summary: what the law prohibits, the thresholds, how the Legislature's concentrate limit differed from the County Executive's full-ban announcement, and where to request the certified text. Adapt the closing paragraph for any county.

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• Dutchess County Resolution 2026136: the filed committee text PDFAugust 10, 2026

  The county's own five-page resolution and local law prohibiting concentrated and synthetic 7-OH products, sponsored by Legislators Valdés Smith, Atkins, Munn and Kaul. Cleared committee August 6 and was adopted August 10. This is the text other counties are pointed to.

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• Kratom in Context: one-page backgrounder for the Dutchess County Legislature PDFAugust 2026

  What kratom is, who uses it, why concentrated products and plain leaf are different things, with federal survey figures scaled to the county and every claim footnoted. Prepared for the record before the August 6 committee meeting.

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• Letter to County Executive Serino: target the real problem, not the plant PDFAugust 2026

  Companion to the Legislature letter, sent at the same time to the County Executive who announced the full prohibition on July 30 and has said she will keep pressing for one. Same argument, addressed to an executive rather than a body, closing with a request to meet her staff before August 10.

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• Letter to the Dutchess County Legislature: amend the July 30 proposal before the August 10 vote PDFAugust 2026

  The first filing in this series, sent by email in early August in answer to the County Executive's July 30 proposal for a full countywide prohibition. Asks the Legislature to draw the same line the DEA and New York State drew, at concentration rather than at the plant, with eight cited sources. The Legislature's own bill, which cleared committee on August 6, was written for concentrates from the start, and the July 30 proposal was never taken up.

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Proposed Local Law No. 2 of 2026 would prohibit the sale and distribution of kratom in all forms, natural leaf included. The Board of Supervisors' agenda for October 1, 2026 carried a resolution setting a public hearing on it for Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at the County Office Complex in Lake Pleasant; we have not yet confirmed the vote. A kratom item was on the Human Services Committee agenda for August 25, 2026.

• Letter to the Board of Supervisors: Proposed Local Law No. 2, before the November 5 hearing PDFSeptember 30, 2026

  One page to Chairman Arsenault and the Board through Clerk Laura Abrams, on a law that would prohibit kratom in all forms. Asks for a narrower text that prohibits concentrated and synthetic 7-OH products and keeps tested natural leaf lawful for adults 21 and over, the line S8925-A and the DEA have drawn, and sets that beside Dutchess, Suffolk, Oswego and Ulster. Asks that it go to the Human Services Committee and the County Attorney and be included with the written comments for the hearing. The Dutchess reference sheet below and the Dutchess text as introduced were enclosed.

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• Reference sheet: Dutchess County Local Law No. 6 of 2026, prepared for Hamilton County PDFSeptember 30, 2026

  One-page summary of the Dutchess law under its adopted name, enclosed with the letter above: what it prohibits, the thresholds, how it came about, when it takes effect and where to request the certified text, with a closing paragraph written for Hamilton County. An updated version of the August sheet below.

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• Reference sheet: Dutchess County Resolution 2026136, prepared for Hamilton County PDFAugust 2026

  One-page summary of the Dutchess law as a working New York model, with a closing paragraph written for Hamilton County.

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• Letters to the Hamilton County Human Services Committee PDFAugust 2026

  Written comment ahead of the August 25 committee meeting, putting the threshold approach in front of members alongside the Director's presentation, with the Dutchess measure offered as an adaptable model. A follow-up after the meeting asks where the item stands and how to obtain committee minutes.

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The Board of Legislators adopted a permanent countywide prohibition on August 12, 2026, and the County Executive signed it on August 19. It reaches natural leaf, and sales were already halted by the June 5, 2026 public health order. The Chairwoman acknowledged receipt of the July letter below.

• Kratom in Context: one-page backgrounder for the Oneida County Board of Legislators PDFAugust 2026

  What kratom is, who uses it, why concentrated products and plain leaf are different things, with federal survey figures scaled to the county and every claim footnoted.

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• Letter to the Oneida County Board of Legislators: regulation over prohibition PDFJuly 2, 2026

  Asks the Board to amend the proposed permanent prohibition into a Kratom Consumer Protection Act framework: prohibit synthetic and adulterated material, cap 7-OH, require third-party testing and labeling, enforce the age rule. Eight cited sources. The Chairwoman acknowledged receipt.

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No county measure is in force. The County Legislature voted in December 2025 on a local law barring kratom sales to anyone under 21, but county officials say it did not complete enactment because the state's own under-21 law made it unnecessary; the Legislature also adopted a separate resolution urging the State to prohibit sales entirely. Within the county, the Village of Montgomery held a public hearing on October 6, 2026 on a local law that would make it unlawful to sell, offer for sale, distribute or otherwise provide kratom products in the village, natural leaf included. Nothing was adopted: the Board asked counsel to remove possession and add 7-OH and any natural or synthetic derivative to the definition, and put the law first on the agenda for its October 20, 2026 meeting.

• Village of Montgomery: follow-up for the hearing record on definitions, enforcement and state law PDFOctober 7, 2026 Download
• Village of Montgomery: drafting notes on definitions, testing and state law PDFOctober 7, 2026 Download
• Village of Montgomery: a rundown of the October 6 public hearing PDFOctober 6, 2026 Download
• Village of Montgomery: written comment for the October 6 public hearing PDFOctober 2026 Download
• Village of Montgomery: drafting references before the October 6 hearing PDFSeptember 23, 2026

  One page to the Village Clerk for the Village Attorney and the Board of Trustees, to be included with the written comments for the October 6 public hearing. Because the notice describes a ban and no text is posted, it asks that the draft target concentrated and synthetic 7-OH at the S8925-A limits rather than all kratom, and offers the signed Dutchess law and Ulster County's Proposed Local Law No. 16 as texts a village can adapt. Both were enclosed.

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The Legislature adopted Local Law No. 7 of 2026 on September 10, 2026, 21 to 0. It is a retail law, not a ban: an age-21 rule, locked or behind-the-counter storage and a 500-foot school buffer, enforced by the county Health Department, with a reverse preemption clause. It takes effect on December 9, 2026, ninety days after adoption. The same night the Legislature also adopted Agenda Item HE-3, a separate resolution urging the State to place kratom on its controlled substance schedules, 21 to 0.

• Comment for the September 10 meeting: support for Local Law No. 7, and a problem with HE-3 PDFSeptember 9, 2026

  One page to the Clerk of the Legislature for the Health Committee and the members. Supports Local Law No. 7 as finally drafted and names the provisions that do the work: age 21, locked or behind-the-counter storage, the 500-foot school buffer, the 90-day compliance window in Article 13, the SEQRA determination in Article 12 and the reverse preemption clause in Article 10. Then takes up Agenda Item HE-3, the resolution urging the State to schedule kratom, and shows the two cannot both stand, because scheduling the plant would leave no lawful sale for Local Law No. 7 to regulate. Asks for a resolution urging the Governor to sign S8925-A instead.

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• Letters to the Oswego County Health Committee: written comment and August 11 update PDFAugust 5 and 11, 2026

  Supports Local Law No. 7 as drafted, then answers the preemption question the committee raised on August 4: a county cannot easily prohibit outright what the state regulates, and a measure drawn on the state thresholds avoids it. The August 11 update reports the Dutchess adoption as a drafting reference.

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• Kratom in Context: one-page backgrounder for Oswego County PDFAugust 2026

  What kratom is, who uses it, why concentrated products and plain leaf are different things, with federal survey figures scaled to the county and every claim footnoted. Enclosed with the letter above.

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Nothing has been enacted. In a news report on September 10, 2026, the Chairwoman of the Legislature said lawmakers will take up a prohibition on the sale of kratom in the coming months, with the County Coroner pressing for it, and county documents reported on September 23 show a drafted county proposal on kratom policy. No local law is known to have been introduced, referred to committee or scheduled.

• Letter to the Sullivan County Legislature: the kratom question, before a draft is written PDFSeptember 11, 2026

  One page to Chairwoman Rajsz and the Legislature, written before any draft exists. Puts the threshold approach in front of members alongside whatever the county's departments present, points to the bipartisan Ulster bill next door and the adopted Dutchess law as working models, and explains why a concentration threshold is something a county can test and enforce at the point of sale. It does not ask the Legislature to take a position yet. The Dutchess filed text was enclosed.

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On September 22, 2026 the Health Services Committee approved a request that the County Attorney draft a local law banning kratom sales countywide, and the Board of Supervisors takes up that request on October 16, 2026. No text has been drafted yet. The committee had discussed a possible kratom and nitrous oxide measure on June 22 and July 21. The Clerk noted that written comment is forwarded to members but is not part of the official record unless delivered in person at a public meeting.

• Letter to the Board of Supervisors: the drafting instruction, before October 16 PDFSeptember 22, 2026

  One page to Chairman Geraghty and the Board, forwarded through the Clerk, on the Health Services Committee's September 22 request that the County Attorney draft a countywide ban. Points out that the request's own rationale names 7-OH, recalls the committee's July 21 request for a letter supporting the State's Synthetic Kratom Kills Act, and asks the Board to direct a prohibition on 7-OH above the S8925-A limits and on synthetic analogs rather than on the plant. The Dutchess filed text and reference sheet were enclosed.

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• Drafting references for the County Attorney: three New York texts PDFSeptember 22, 2026

  One page to County Attorney Kimberly Richards, sent directly because it is drafting material rather than comment. Sets three New York texts side by side without argument: Dutchess County Resolution 2026136 as enacted, Albany County's Emergency Order for its Section 1(c) concentration definition and Section 8 severability structure, and Ulster County's Proposed Local Law No. 16. Notes where the thresholds match S8925-A and where Albany measures by dry weight instead. All three texts were enclosed.

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• Reference sheet: Dutchess County Resolution 2026136, prepared for Warren County PDFSeptember 22, 2026 Download
• Follow-up letter to the Warren County Health Services Committee: four developments since June PDFAugust 3, 2026

  Corrects the June letter on Suffolk, which went on to adopt a regulatory law rather than a ban, then reports the DEA action, the filed Dutchess text and the Washington County prohibition. Sent through the Clerk to the committee and the County Attorney.

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• Kratom in Context: one-page backgrounder for the Warren County Board of Supervisors PDFAugust 2026

  What kratom is, who uses it, why concentrated products and plain leaf are different things, with federal survey figures scaled to the county and every claim footnoted.

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• Written comment to the Warren County Health Services Committee PDFJune 24, 2026

  The first Warren County filing, submitted after the June 22 committee discussion. Supports the nitrous oxide measure, asks that any kratom measure separate natural leaf from concentrated and synthetic 7-OH, and sets out four elements a workable local law would carry.

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