NOTE: As provided in LFC policy, this report is
intended only for use by the standing finance committees of the
legislature. The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume
responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used for
other purposes.
The most recent FIR
version (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) is available on the Legislative
Website. The Adobe PDF version includes
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obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.
F I S C A
L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR:
|
Rodriguez
|
DATE TYPED:
|
02/28/03
|
HB
|
|
SHORT TITLE:
|
Santa Fe County
Teen Court
|
SB
|
782
|
|
ANALYST:
|
Hayes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained
|
Estimated
Additional Impact
|
Recurring
or
Non-Rec
|
Fund
Affected
|
FY03
|
FY04
|
FY03
|
FY04
|
|
|
|
$55.0
|
|
|
Recurring*
|
General
Fund
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates HB 875
SOURCES
OF INFORMATION
Responses
Received From
Administrative
Office of the Courts (AOC)
Department
of Finance and Administration (DFA)
Department
of Health (DOH)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate Bill 782
appropriates $55.0 from the general fund to the Local Government Division of
the Department of Finance and Administration for the purpose of funding Santa
Fe County’s
teen court program.
Significant
Issues
- Teen
court is a program designed for first-time teen offenders to keep their
records clean. A jury composed of
local teens does not decide innocence or guilt of an offender, but assesses
the sentence of the offender. The
offender must openly admit commission of a delinquent act in front of the
teen jury. If the offender admits
to a delinquent act, accepts the “sentence” of the teen jury and
successfully completes it, then the delinquent act is dismissed and the offender
pays no fine.
- Teen
courts exists in other jurisdictions around the state, but are often funded
by either the county or municipality in which they operate. It is questionable whether the State of New
Mexico should be permanently
funding teen court, although legislators acknowledge the merits of the
program’s goals. Start-up funding
has been provided to districts or counties in the past, but the
expectation is that counties, schools, volunteers, municipalities or other
community-based organizations will provide continued support for teen
court programs.
- According
to DOH, there are currently 22 teen courts in operation around New
Mexico. Many of them have received funding from DFA’s DWI grant program (in addition to county and
municipal funding). The Santa
Fe County
teen should consider applying for funding from DFA’s
DWI grant program to support it in lieu of the state’s general fund.
- It
may be that local municipal courts are the most appropriate to fund and
administer teen court programs since they mainly involve misdemeanor
violations.
- Neither
DFA nor AOC
provided any information regarding teen court in their responses to the
LFC. Therefore, it is unclear
whether the funding requested in this bill is a one-time request or if the
state has been providing yearly funding to Santa
Fe’s teen court
through DFA’s Local Government Division.
- No
performance data has been provided to the LFC regarding the number of teen
court participants, rate of teens completing the program, if offenders
commit additional delinquent acts, etc.; therefore, the level of success
of teen court is unknown.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of
$55.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance
remaining at the end of fiscal year 2004 shall revert to the general fund.
DUPLICATION
HB 875 duplicates this
legislation requesting funding for Santa
Fe’s teen court.
CMH/ls