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AN ACT

RELATING TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE; ADDING AN ADDITIONAL MEMBER TO

THE NEW MEXICO SENTENCING COMMISSION.

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

Section 1. Section 9-3-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1977,

Chapter 257, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

"9-3-1. SHORT TITLE.--Chapter 9, Article 3 NMSA 1978

may be cited as the "Corrections Department Act"."

Section 2. Section 9-3-10 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1977,

Chapter 257, Section 11, as amended) is amended to read:

"9-3-10. NEW MEXICO SENTENCING COMMISSION--CREATION--

MEMBERSHIP--DUTIES.--

A. There is created the "New Mexico sentencing

commission".

B. The New Mexico sentencing commission shall be

composed of twenty-four members. Appointed members shall

serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. The

commission shall reflect reasonable geographical and urban-

rural balances and regard for the incidence of crime and the

distribution and concentration of law enforcement services in

the state. The commission shall consist of the following

individuals or their designees:

(1) the attorney general;

(2) a district attorney appointed by the

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district attorneys association of New Mexico;

(3) the chief public defender;

(4) two district court judges, one of whom

shall be a children's court judge, appointed by the district

court judge's association of New Mexico;

(5) a judge from the court of appeals

appointed by the chief judge of the court of appeals;

(6) the dean of the university of New Mexico

school of law;

(7) the secretary of corrections;

(8) the secretary of public safety;

(9) the secretary of children, youth and

families;

(10) the secretary of public education;

(11) a county sheriff appointed by the

executive director of the New Mexico association of counties;

(12) two public members appointed by the

governor, one of whom shall be designated as chair of the New

Mexico sentencing commission by the governor;

(13) three public members appointed by the

president pro tempore of the senate;

(14) three public members appointed by the

speaker of the house of representatives;

(15) two public members appointed by the

chief justice of the supreme court;

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(16) one public member who is Native

American and a practicing attorney, appointed by the president

of the state bar association; and

(17) one public member appointed by the

governor who is a representative of a New Mexico victim

organization.

C. A majority of the members of the New Mexico

sentencing commission constitutes a quorum for the transaction

of commission business.

D. The New Mexico sentencing commission shall:

(1) hold meetings at times and for periods

as the commission deems necessary;

(2) hire staff as needed to assist the

commission in the performance of its duties;

(3) prepare an annual budget;

(4) establish policies for the operation of

the commission and supervision of the activities of commission

staff;

(5) advise the executive, judicial and

legislative branches of government on policy matters relating

to criminal and juvenile justice;

(6) make recommendations to the legislature

concerning proposed changes to laws relating to the criminal

and juvenile justice systems that the commission determines

would improve those systems;

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(7) annually assess, monitor and report to

the legislature on the impact of any enacted sentencing

standards and guidelines on state and local correctional

resources and programs and the need for further sentencing

reform;

(8) when developing proposed sentencing

reform:

(a) study sentencing models in other

jurisdictions;

(b) study the Criminal Sentencing Act,

the Criminal Code and all other New Mexico statutes relating

to criminal law, criminal sentencing, criminal procedure and

probation and parole;

(c) review past studies or reports

regarding proposed changes to the Children's Code, the

Criminal Code, the Criminal Sentencing Act or other New Mexico

statutes relating to criminal law, criminal sentencing,

criminal procedure or probation and parole;

(d) study past and current criminal

sentencing and release practices and create a statistical

database for simulating the impact of various sentencing

policies;

(e) study the full range of prison,

nonprison and intermediate sanctions;

(f) determine the principal purpose for

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criminal sanctions;

(g) rank criminal offenses by degree of

seriousness;

(h) determine the role of criminal

history in making criminal sentencing decisions;

(i) define dispositional policy that

determines when adult felony offenders are confined in state

prisons and county jails or sentenced to nonprison and

intermediate sanctions;

(j) establish the length of criminal

sentences;

(k) establish the appropriate use of

community service and fines;

(l) structure proposed sentencing

guidelines to ensure consistency in all aspects of criminal

sentencing policy;

(m) assess the impact of commission

recommendations to modify criminal sentencing policy on the

availability of and need for correctional resources and

programs;

(n) use the expertise of a national or

state organization with experience in sentencing reform; and

(o) present proposed legislation or

recommendations regarding sentencing reform to the appropriate

legislative interim committee;

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(9) monitor any enacted sentencing

guidelines with respect to uniformity and proportionality;

(10) conduct research relating to the use

and effectiveness of any enacted guidelines, prosecution

standards, offense charging, plea bargaining, sentencing

practices, probation and parole practices and any other

matters relating to the criminal justice system;

(11) serve as a clearinghouse for the

systematic collection, analysis and dissemination of

information relating to felony offense charges, plea

agreements, convictions, sentences imposed, incarceration time

actually served and actual and projected inmate population in

the state correctional system;

(12) review all proposed legislation that

creates a new criminal offense, changes the classification of

an offense or changes the range of punishments for an offense

and make recommendations to the legislature as to whether

proposed changes would improve the criminal and juvenile

justice system; and

(13) contingent upon the availability of

funding, provide impact estimates, incorporating prison

population projections, on all proposed legislation that has

the potential to affect correctional resources.

E. The members of the New Mexico sentencing

commission shall be paid pursuant to the Per Diem and Mileage

Act and shall receive no other perquisite, compensation or

allowance.

F. The New Mexico sentencing commission is

administratively attached to the office of the governor."

Section 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the

provisions of this act is July 1, 2007.

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