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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Boykin

DATE TYPED 3/8/05

HB HJM 31/aHJC

SHORT TITLE Study Establishing Dona Ana Metro Court

SB

ANALYST McSherry

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

NFI

Indeterminate Non-Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Bernalillo Metropolitan Court

No response received from the Municipal League

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HJC Amendment

The House Judiciary Committee amendment removes language stating that should a Dona Ana

Metropolitan Court be created, “there would be more effective and professional oversight of a

Dona Ana county metropolitan court by the Administrative Office of the Courts.”

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Joint Memorial 31 calls for the AOC to study the appropriateness of establishing a Dona

Ana county metropolitan court, and to report the findings of the study to the corrections over-

sight, courts and justice committee by Nov. 20, 2005.

The Memorial cites support for the proposed study by the City of Las Cruces, the Judges of the

Third Judicial District, the Dona Ana County Sheriff and New Mexico State University. The

supporters of House Joint Memorial 31 propose that replacing the current Dona Ana county mu-

nicipal and magistrate courts with a metropolitan court would provide more effective and profes-

sional oversight by the Administrative Office of the Court.

House Joint Memorial 31/aHJC -- Page 2

In 1979, legislation was enacted allowing a county with a population of over 200,000 people to

establish a metropolitan court. Currently, Bernalillo County is the only county in New Mexico

to have established a metropolitan court.

Significant Issues

At this point, the AOC reports, the Supreme Court and the AOC have taken no position on the

advisability of establishing a Dona Ana County metropolitan court. The AOC asserts that it will

conduct a study if requested by the Legislature. AOC further states that only minimal informa-

tion would be able to be gathered without an appropriation allocated and that there is no appro-

priation proposed in the bill to conduct the study.

Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court (BCMC) cites that House Joint Memorial 31 proposes a

study that would investigate an opportunity for the citizens of Dona Ana County to rely on a sin-

gle limited jurisdiction court.

According to BCMC, a metropolitan court would allow the following: 1) all Judges would be

experienced attorneys; 2) DWI, Domestic Violence and Civil cases would be adjudicated by a

“court of record” (appeals from such cases would be determined upon the District Court’s review

of the record – not via a new trial); and, 3) misdemeanor, local ordinance and civil cases involv-

ing less than $10,000 would be handled more efficiently by a single court rather than by two

courts. BCMC asserts that a single court process is more efficient and that the three listed char-

acteristics of a metropolitan court would be beneficial.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The additional administrative responsibilities assigned to AOC could result in less productivity

in other tasks.

The study may result in performance enhancing finding for the judiciary, Las Cruces and Dona

Ana County.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

No appropriation is proposed in HJM 31. The AOC asserts that the there would be a significant

financial impact involved in conducting the proposed study.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Use of AOC resources is proposed by House Joint Memorial 31 to complete the study and would

result in administrative impact.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 182.2 thousand people reside in Dona Ana

County. The Dona Ana County website includes an estimate that 300+ thousand people will

live in the county by 2015.

House Joint Memorial 31/aHJC -- Page 3

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1.

Is there an estimated cost associated with the proposed study. How much is estimated.

EM/yr:lg