HB0357

HOUSE BILL 357

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2023

INTRODUCED BY

Meredith A. Dixon and T. Ryan Lane and Dayan Hochman-Vigil and Gail Armstrong and Joy Garratt

AN ACT

RELATING TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE; CREATING THE LAW ENFORCEMENT WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING FUND; CREATING THE PUBLIC ATTORNEY WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING FUND; PROVIDING FUNDING FOR THE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, PUBLIC DEFENDERS AND PROSECUTORS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1. A new Section 9-6-17 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

"9-6-17. [NEW MATERIAL] LAW ENFORCEMENT WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING FUND--LAW ENFORCEMENT WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING FUND COMMITTEE--ADMINISTRATION--DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS--GRANT CRITERIA.--

A. The "law enforcement workforce capacity building fund" is created in the state treasury. The fund consists of appropriations, gifts, grants and donations. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall revert to the general fund unless an appropriation provides a different period for expenditure.

B. The department of finance and administration shall administer the fund and shall make grant disbursements in accordance with the decisions of the law enforcement workforce capacity building fund committee to recruit and retain high-quality law enforcement officers, except as provided in Subsection D of this section. Disbursements from the fund shall be made on warrants drawn by the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the chair of the law enforcement workforce capacity building fund committee.

C. The "law enforcement workforce capacity building fund committee" is created. The committee consists of an equal number of voting members each from the department of finance and administration, the department of public safety, municipal police departments and county sheriff's offices. The committee shall elect a chair from among its membership. A voting member of the committee shall not review or vote on a proposal made by an applicant with whom the member is employed.

D. The department of finance and administration may allocate:

(1) to the committee or to the department of finance and administration, up to three percent of the money in the fund to pay for administrative costs necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, including to evaluate the efficacy of recruitment and retention initiatives implemented by grant recipients;

(2) to the committee, up to twenty-five percent of the money in the fund for grants awarded to entities within the jurisdiction of a county having a population of at least five hundred thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census;

(3) to the committee, up to thirty-five percent of the money in the fund for grants awarded to entities within the jurisdiction of a county having a population of at least one hundred thousand but less than five hundred thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census; and

(4) to the department of finance and administration, up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) every five fiscal years, to be expended in consultation with the committee for workload studies designed to improve the structure and criteria of the provisions of this section. These studies shall recommend policy or program measures to be considered by the legislature.

E. All municipal police departments, county sheriff's offices and offices of the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety that propose to undertake initiatives in collaboration with a municipal police department or county sheriff's office are eligible to apply for a grant.

F. The awarding of grants shall be by the committee, and the committee shall develop grant criteria for grant awards, taking into consideration:

(1) an applicant's officer vacancy rate;

(2) cost-of-living and comparable market compensation for an applicant's locality;

(3) crime rates in an applicant's locality;

(4) an applicant's proposal for initiatives that target the recruitment of candidates who are not currently employed by a law enforcement agency within the state;

(5) an applicant's proposal for nonrecurring initiatives, except an applicant who proposes a recurring initiative may propose a plan to replace nonrecurring funds with recurring funds to fund that initiative;

(6) an applicant's proposal for initiatives to be undertaken in collaboration with municipal police departments and county sheriff's offices with overlapping jurisdiction; and

(7) an applicant's proposal for initiatives to be undertaken by municipal police departments and county sheriff's offices with overlapping jurisdiction.

G. A grantee may use a grant to:

(1) provide disbursements to newly hired law enforcement officers, including disbursements for relocation expenses;

(2) provide disbursements to law enforcement officers already employed by the applicant for the purpose of retention;

(3) implement professional development initiatives designed to recruit, train and retain law enforcement officers; and

(4) implement campaigns to recruit in-state and out-of-state candidates, with prioritization for campaigns that target experienced law enforcement officers.

H. A grantee shall not use a grant to create new law enforcement officer positions or fund existing, unfunded law enforcement officer positions.

I. The committee shall provide at least one annual report by November 1 of each fiscal year to the department of finance and administration and the legislative finance committee that contains:

(1) aggregate applicant information, including the number of applications by law enforcement agency;

(2) individual grantee information, including information about the grantee's agency, the grant amount awarded and the title and description of the grantee's initiative; and

(3) data collected and evaluations made by the committee, pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection D of this section, about the efficacy of the initiatives of prior award recipients."

SECTION 2. A new Section 9-6-18 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

"9-6-18. [NEW MATERIAL] PUBLIC ATTORNEY WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING FUND CREATED--PUBLIC ATTORNEY WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING FUND COMMITTEE--ADMINISTRATION--GRANT CRITERIA.--

A. The "public attorney workforce capacity building fund" is created in the state treasury. The fund consists of appropriations, gifts, grants and donations. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall revert to the general fund unless an appropriation provides a different period for expenditure.

B. The department of finance and administration shall administer the fund and shall make grant disbursements in accordance with the decisions of the public attorney workforce capacity building fund committee to recruit and retain public defenders and prosecutors, except as provided in Subsection D of this section. Disbursements from the fund shall be made on warrants drawn by the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the chair of the public attorney workforce capacity building fund committee.

C. The "public attorney workforce capacity building fund committee" is created. The committee consists of an equal number of voting members each from the public defender department and the administrative office of the district attorneys. The committee shall elect a chair from among its membership. A voting member of the committee who has been selected by the public defender department shall not review or vote on a proposal made by an applicant with whom the member is employed; provided that the member may review and vote on that proposal if the member is physically located in the office of the applicant but the member's association with the public defender department is statewide.

D. The department of finance and administration may allocate:

(1) to the committee, up to three percent of the money in the fund to pay for administrative costs necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, including to evaluate the efficacy of recruitment and retention initiatives implemented by grant recipients;

(4) to the public defender department or the administrative office of the district attorneys, up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) every five fiscal years for workload studies designed to improve the structure and criteria of the provisions of this section. These studies shall recommend policy or program measures to be considered by the legislature.

E. The awarding of grants to local offices of the public defender and local district attorney offices shall be by the committee, and the committee shall develop grant criteria for grant awards, taking into consideration:

(1) an applicant's attorney vacancy rate;

(2) an applicant's attorney caseload;

(3) cost-of-living and comparable market compensation for an applicant's locality;

(4) crime rates in an applicant's locality;

(5) the number of attorneys employed by an applicant;

(6) an applicant's proposal for initiatives that target the recruitment of candidates who are law school students, attorneys who are not currently employed or contracted by the state or attorneys who are not currently employed in New Mexico;

(7) an applicant's proposal for nonrecurring initiatives, except an applicant who proposes a recurring initiative may propose a plan to replace nonrecurring funds with recurring funds to fund that initiative;

(8) an applicant's proposal for initiatives that include collaboration among public defender offices, district attorney offices and other criminal justice entities; and

(9) an applicant's proposal for initiatives that will take place within a judicial district having existing pre-prosecution diversion programs or a plan to implement those programs within two fiscal years.

F. A grant award may be used by a grantee to:

(1) provide disbursements to newly hired attorneys, included disbursements for relocation expenses;

(2) provide disbursements to attorneys already employed by the applicant;

(3) implement professional development initiatives designed to recruit, train and retain attorneys; and

(4) implement campaigns to recruit in-state and out-of-state candidates, with prioritization for campaigns that target law school students.

G. A grantee shall not use a grant to create new attorney positions or contract with private attorneys except in a judicial district not having a public defender office.

H. The committee shall provide at least one annual report by November 1 of each fiscal year to the department of finance and administration and the legislative finance committee that contains:

(1) aggregate applicant information, including the number of applications by public defender offices and by district attorney offices;

(2) individual grantee information, including information about the grantee's judicial district location, the grant amount awarded and the title and description of the grantee's initiative; and

(3) data collected and evaluations made by the committee, pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection D of this section, about the efficacy of the initiatives of prior award recipients."

SECTION 3. REPEAL.--Section 9-6-5.3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2022, Chapter 56, Section 1) is repealed.

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