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A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS TO CONDUCT

A STUDY ON THE NEED OF CLASS A COUNTIES TO HAVE A SPECIAL

JUDGE OR A SPECIAL MASTER TO HEAR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASES.

WHEREAS, every year Bernalillo county presents

approximately three hundred cases to the district and

metropolitan courts relating to alleged violations of codes,

including the zoning, building, environmental health, animal

control, fire marshal and public works codes; and

WHEREAS, code violation cases are often docketed with

other types of cases that may be viewed as having a higher

priority, such as DWI, traffic violation and domestic

violence cases; and

WHEREAS, in the first ten months of 2007, Bernalillo

county filed in metropolitan court one hundred forty-six

zoning-related cases of which forty-five percent were

continued for additional hearings; and

WHEREAS, in the first ten months of 2007, Bernalillo

county filed in district court six zoning-related cases of

which four were resolved and two were continued; and

WHEREAS, the number of code enforcement cases filed in

Bernalillo county will continue to increase as code

compliance becomes more of a priority for the community and

enforcement efforts are increased; and

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WHEREAS, increased emphasis on county code enforcement

will increase congestion in an already over-burdened court

system; and

WHEREAS, assigning code enforcement cases to an

additional special division of the court system or to a

special master outside the traditional court system may

ameliorate court congestion resulting from increased

enforcement efforts and provide enforcement staff with the

support needed to effectively enforce county codes;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it request the administrative office

of the courts to conduct a study in the need for class A

counties to have a special judge or special master to hear

code enforcement cases; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the administrative office of

the courts present the results of its study and any

recommendations regarding the need for class A counties to

have a special judge or special master to hear code

enforcement cases to the appropriate interim legislative

committee no later than October 1, 2008; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be

transmitted to the director of the administrative office of

the courts.