SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 39

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Richard C. Martinez

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING A STUDY OF CURRENT NEW MEXICO LAW RELATING TO MANAGING COUNTY JAIL OVERCROWDING.

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislature has passed measures approving and requesting a study of current law about jail overcrowding; and

     WHEREAS, even so, no studies have resulted, and New Mexico's jails remain seriously overcrowded; and

     WHEREAS, meeting federal constitutional standards for jail populations is demanding and expensive, but mandatory; and

     WHEREAS, county taxpayers spent over one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) to feed, house, transport and provide medical care to approximately seven thousand inmates in New Mexico jails; and

     WHEREAS, detention costs comprise approximately one-fourth of county general fund budgets; and

     WHEREAS, county governments are facing increased litigation costs due to unsafe conditions created by jail overcrowding; and

     WHEREAS, approximately one-half of all inmates housed in county jails were arrested within municipal boundaries by municipal officers but became county inmates because they were charged with state law crimes; and

     WHEREAS, most inmates held in county jails spent almost seven and one-half months, or two hundred twenty-four days, in those jails; and

     WHEREAS, after sentencing, an average jail inmate spends another nineteen days in jail before being transported to prison; and

     WHEREAS, municipalities pay counties only a small fraction of the costs for feeding, clothing and housing inmates in county jails; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico laws establishing county jails were originally adopted in 1865 and 1866 when costs to maintain jails were minimal and each county jail contained only a few cells and a county sheriff was in charge; and

     WHEREAS, statutes currently provide no authority to boards of county commissioners to set policy to effectively manage county jail populations, even when the facilities become overcrowded and unsafe; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislature, through the Corrections Population Control Act, has given authority to the secretary of corrections to address overcrowding issues in state prisons by allowing for early release of nonviolent offenders if the inmate population exceeds one hundred percent of the facility's rated capacity for a period of sixty consecutive days;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it recognize the lack of statutory authority provided to county governments to effectively manage county jail populations; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the interim legislative committee that studies corrections issues, in collaboration with the New Mexico association of counties and other criminal justice stakeholders, study current law relating to jail operations and report its findings to make recommendations for legislation prior to the first session of the fiftieth legislature; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative council and the New Mexico association of counties.

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