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

SPONSOR Cote

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/24/07

HB 216

SHORT TITLE Domestic Violence Victim Substitute Address

SB

ANALYST Wilson

REVENUE (dollars in thousands)

Estimated Revenue

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

FY09

Minimal

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

Minimal

Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

No Response Received From

Secretary of State (SOS)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 116 allows victims of domestic violence or the victim’s representative,

as defined in §31-26-3 (NMSA 1978), to create a substitute address through the SOS when there

House Bill 216– Page

2

is “good reason to believe that a victim’s safety is at risk."

The SOS will act as an agent for the victim for the purpose of forwarding mail, and will create an

application that includes:

•

forwarding mailing address and telephone number for the victim,

•

signature of the victim or victim’s representative.

The SOS will maintain a confidential record of these applications, and will forward all mail to

the new mailing address.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The SOS will collect a $75 application fee which may be waived if the victim is indigent.

It is unlikely that the SOS will collect enough revenue to offset administrative charges.

There will be a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution and documentation

of statutory changes. Courts will need to inform victim’s of domestic violence that this option is

available to them.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

All mail to participants in this program will have to be forwarded, and will slow the process of

contacting these persons. This could delay notice of hearings or other court proceedings.

Since a person’s address will be the SOS office in Santa Fe, these individuals will be identified

as Santa Fe county residents. They could be summoned for jury duty in Santa Fe County, even

though their physical residence will probably be in another county. There may be a need for

automation funding to identify persons with a substitute address.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The SOS must create an application and act as agent for the domestic abuse victim. The SOS

should be able to handle the requirements of this bill as part of its regular responsibilities.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

Will the provisions of this bill exclude some persons from serving as jurors.

Will the physical address and the substitute address need to be coordinated so that persons are

not precluded from voting in the correct precinct.

DW/nt