HOUSE BILL 387

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

INTRODUCED BY

Joy Garratt and Cynthia Borrego and Meredith A. Dixon and Natalie Figueroa

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION TO REDUCE THE BACKLOG OF OUTSTANDING FELONY WARRANTS.

 

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

     SECTION 1. APPROPRIATION.--

          A. Twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2024 to the department of finance and administration to fund efforts to reduce the backlog of outstanding felony warrants. The department of finance and administration shall disburse the appropriated money to the following entities in the following amounts:

                (1) ten million dollars ($10,000,000), seven million dollars ($7,000,000) of which shall be reserved for police agencies in Bernalillo county, including the Albuquerque police department and the Bernalillo county sheriff's office, to the:

                     (a) Albuquerque police department for overtime compensation;

                     (b) Bernalillo county sheriff's office for warrant backlog entry and overtime compensation;

                     (c) office of the second judicial district attorney for data cleanup;

                     (d) law offices of the public defender within Bernalillo county;

                     (e) administrative office of the courts, including the second judicial district court and the Bernalillo county metropolitan court, for data cleanup related to felony warrant backlog efforts, advertising and conducting safe surrender events at which a person with an outstanding warrant may resolve an outstanding warrant by safe surrender;

                     (f) Bernalillo county metropolitan detention center; and

                     (g) adult probation and parole division of the corrections department within Bernalillo county; and

                (2) ten million dollars ($10,000,000) to:

                     (a) the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety within any county;

                     (b) county sheriffs' offices within any county;

                     (c) municipal police departments within any county;

                     (d) district courts within any district;

                     (e) district attorney offices within any district;

                     (f) law offices of the public defender department within any county;

                     (g) detention facilities within any county;

                     (h) the administrative office of the courts for all district courts and magistrate courts statewide for data cleanup and advertising and conducting safe surrender events at which a person with an outstanding warrant may resolve an outstanding warrant by safe surrender; and

                     (i) the adult probation and parole division of the corrections department to assist efforts throughout the state within any other county or municipality not described in Paragraph (1) of this subsection, where funds are needed for felony warrant backlog efforts.  

          B. The department of finance and administration shall disburse funds to the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety, county sheriff's offices and municipal police departments that submit documentation detailing how the funds will be used to reduce the felony warrant backlog. The documentation shall demonstrate how the requesting agency will:

                (1) focus on resolving previous crimes while keeping dangerous criminals from committing new crimes;

                (2) use any disbursed funds to pay overtime costs;

                (3) specify the total personnel cost of operations, which shall include the number of officers who will be involved, the estimated number of hours an officer would be involved in an operation and the average pay per officer; and

                (4) specify the number of outstanding felony warrants the law enforcement agency intends to address.

          C. When determining whether to disburse funds to a requesting agency, the department of finance and administration shall consider the following factors of the felony warrants and alleged perpetrator:

                (1) the severity of the alleged crime;

                (2) the date the outstanding warrant was issued;

                (3) whether the alleged perpetrator is a repeat offender; and

                (4) whether the alleged crime was a violent crime such as homicide, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, kidnapping, felony domestic violence, auto theft or burglary.

          D. The department of finance and administration shall disburse funds to district courts, law offices of the public defender department, district attorney offices and detention facilities that submit documentation establishing a need for the funds and proposing a comprehensive plan on how to use the funds. The requesting agency shall detail how additional arrests will affect the agency and how the requested funds will alleviate any additional burden imposed by additional arrests performed by other agencies.

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