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

SPONSOR Altamirano

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/27/06

HB

SHORT TITLE Grant County Restorative Justice Program

SB 239

ANALYST McSherry

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$181.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY06

FY07

FY08 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

80.5 Indeterminate $80.5 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 239 appropriates $181,000 from the general fund to the 6

th

Judicial District Court for

the purpose of funding pilot programs for juvenile and adult offender restorative justice services

in Grant County.

Senate Bill 239 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $181,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

AOC cites an additional amount of $80,509 as needed to fully fund the proposed program. This

amount would fund a program manager to oversee the proposed pilot program.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This proposal was not included in the judiciary’s “unified budget.” It is not clear if the proposal

is a district priority after unified budget requests, or if it is in addition to unified budget requests,

or if it was just not prioritized by the judiciary budget committee.

According to AOC, the proposed pilot program would repair the harm done by crime, provide

closure for victims, hold offenders accountable, contribute to increased victim and public safety

and build a stronger sense of community.

AOC cites the following as the values and principals of “restorative justice:”

• Crime is an act that harms people and affects the community. It is not only breaking the law.

• Victims of crime should have the opportunity to face the person who caused them harm.

• The offender is accountable to the victim and community for the harm he or she has caused.

• Effort must be made to repair the harm and restore all parties affected to the extent possible.

• Effective response to crime includes building offender competency.

• Building offender competency/skills serves to reduce the need for further criminal justice in-

tervention.

AOC cites the following as benefits of restorative justice:

• Victim opportunity to face their offenders, ask questions, and express the impact of the crime

on themselves and their family

• Community voice in the cause and effect of crime in their neighborhoods

• A reduction in repeat offenses by offenders

• Participants indicate high satisfaction for the process

AOC asserts that the proposed program in Grants would provide a model which could be repli-

cated in other NM counties.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

Performance indicators for this program could be “recidivism of participating offenders,”

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

According to AOC, the 6

th

judicial district would need a director for this program and the fund-

ing for a director is not included in the appropriation.

Senate Bill 239 – Page

3

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

This bill conflicts with the judiciary unified budget.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

AOC suggests that the pilot program would be provided support by community volunteers and

donations.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The restorative justice program proposed would not be funded and would likely not begin as a

pilot program in FY07.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1.

How does a restorative justice program rank among the judiciary’s priorities.

2.

How was Grant County selected as the pilot county for the proposed programs.

3.

Would other governmental and non-governmental agencies be involved in the proposed

pilot program.

4.

How would the 6

th

district track the success of the proposed program and would a full,

non-pilot program be more expensive than the proposed appropriation and additional

$80.5 thousand.

EM/yr