Constitutional Amendments (Arguments For and Against) Abridged

Brief Analysis of Proposed Constitutional Amendment 5:  Independent Public Defender Department

2012

Constitutional Amendment 5 proposes to add a new section to Article 6 of the Constitution of New Mexico establishing the Public Defender Department ("Department") as an independent state agency, thereby removing the Department from its current location, where it is administratively attached to the Corrections Department. The amendment would remove the authority of the Governor to appoint the Chief Public Defender and, instead, create a Public Defender Commission empowered to appoint and provide administrative guidance to the Chief Public Defender and exercise oversight of the Department. Additionally, the amendment proposes to allow the Legislature to establish the term and qualification requirements for both the Chief Public Defender and the members of the Public Defender Commission and to establish the manner in which the members of the commission would be appointed.