46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

RELATING TO COURTS; PROVIDING FOR A SPEEDY COURT HEARING WHEN A PROBATIONER IS PLACED IN DETENTION FOLLOWING AN ALLEGED VIOLATION; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE NMSA 1978.

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

Section 1. Section 31-21-15 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1963, Chapter 301, Section 13, as amended) is amended to read:

"31-21-15. RETURN OF PROBATION VIOLATOR.--

A. At any time during probation:

(1) the court may issue a warrant for the arrest of a probationer for violation of any of the conditions of release. The warrant shall authorize the return of the probationer to the custody of the court or to any suitable detention facility designated by the court;

(2) the court may issue a notice to appear to answer a charge of violation. The notice shall be personally served upon the probationer; or

(3) the director may arrest a probationer without warrant or may deputize any officer with power of arrest to do so by giving him a written statement setting forth that the probationer has, in the judgment of the director, violated the conditions of his release. The written statement, delivered with the probationer by the arresting officer to the official in charge of a county jail or other place of detention, is sufficient warrant for the detention of the probationer. Upon arrest and detention, the director shall immediately notify the court and submit in writing a report showing in what manner the probationer has violated the conditions of release.

B. The court shall then hold a hearing, which may be informal, on the violation charged. When the probationer is placed in detention following his arrest for an alleged violation, the court hearing on the alleged violation shall be held no later than forty-eight hours after the probationer was placed in detention. If the violation is established, the court may continue the original probation or revoke the probation and either order a new probation with any condition provided for in Section 31-20-5 or 31-20-6 NMSA 1978 or require the probationer to serve the balance of the sentence imposed or any lesser sentence. If imposition of sentence was deferred, the court may impose any sentence which might originally have been imposed, but credit shall be given for time served on probation.

C. If it is found that a warrant for the return of a probationer cannot be served, the probationer is a fugitive from justice. After hearing upon return, if it appears that [he] the probationer has violated the provisions of his release, the court shall determine whether the time from the date of violation to the date of his arrest, or any part of it, shall be counted as time served on probation.

D. The board shall budget funds to cover expenses of returning probationers to the court. The sheriff of the county in which the probationer was convicted is the court's agent in the transportation of the probationer, but the director, with the consent of the court, may utilize other state agencies for this purpose when it is in the best interest of the state."

Section 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2003.