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

SPONSOR HAFC

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/30/08

2/5/08 HB 439/HAFCS

SHORT TITLE

Create Judicial Judgeships

SB

ANALYST C. Sanchez

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

*$1,474.3

Recurring

General Fund

$252.4 Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09

FY10 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$

1,474.3

*$

1,474.3

Recurring General

Fund

*Amount to be added to FY09 appropriation to provide full year funding in FY10.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Public Defender (PD)

Department of Corrections (DOC)

Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courts (BCMC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 439 is a HAFC sponsored bill that creates and provides for an appropriation for four

district court judgeships in the First (Santa Fe County), Third (Dona Ana County), Eighth (Taos

County) and Thirteenth (Valencia County) Judicial Districts, and one judgeship in the Bernalillo

County Metropolitan Court. The bill also includes funds for District Attorneys and Public

Defenders at the First (Santa Fe County), Second (Bernalillo County), Third (Dona Ana County),

Eighth (Taos County) and Thirteenth (Valencia County) Districts to assist with increased

workloads as a result of the new judgeships.

House Bill 439/HAFCS – Page

2

The effective date of the provisions of the Act is January 1, 2009.

The bill provides for the district judges and the metropolitan court judge to be appointed by the

governor pursuant to the provisions of Article 6 of the Constitution of New Mexico.

The bill also provides appropriations for salaries and benefits and furniture, supplies and

equipment for support staff at the courts, district attorney, and public defender offices. The

appropriations are laid out in the following table:

HAFC/HB 439 APPROPRIATIONS

Agency

Appropriation

1

st

Judicial District (one judge & support staff)

$217,535

3

rd

Judicial District (one judge and support staff)

$217,535

8

th

Judicial District (one judge and support staff)

$217,535

13

th

Judicial District (one judge and support staff)

$217,535

Metropolitan Court (one judge and support staff)

$210,572

1

st

Judicial District Attorney (one trial attorney and one secretary)

$50,039.5

3

rd

Judicial District Attorney (one trial attorney and one secretary)

$50,039.5

8

th

Judicial District Attorney (one trial attorney and one secretary)

$50,039.5

13

th

Judicial District Attorney (one trial attorney and one secretary)

$50,039.5

2

nd

Judicial District Attorney (one trial attorney and one secretary)

$47,004.5

1

st

Judicial District Public Defender (staff and contractual services)

$103,500

3

rd

Judicial District Public Defender (staff and contractual services)

$103,500

8

th

Judicial District Public Defender (staff and contractual services)

$63,400

13

th

Judicial District Public Defender (staff and contractual services)

$25,000

2

nd

Judicial District Public Defender (staff and contractual services)

$103,500

TOTAL

$1,726,774

*The appropriation contained in the bill is for six months – January 1, 2009 through June 30,

2009.

Unused funds remaining at the end of FY 09 shall revert to the general fund.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Please see the appropriations table above. There is sufficient funding for six months for the new

judges and support staff to start on January 1, 2009. There will be recurring costs of $1.47

million for six months. The additional operating budget needed for FY 2010 $1.47 million, to

cover a full fiscal year (12 months), which results in a total operating budget impact for FY 2010

of $2.94 million.

The total cost for three years is approximately $7.35 million plus yearly salary increases

appropriated by the legislature for judges and staff.

The initial cost of the program is subject to increased costs resulting from any increases in

salaries and the costs of benefits for the FTEs.

House Bill 439/HAFCS – Page

3

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

New Mexico has 88 district judges and 18 Metropolitan Court judges. Distribution and number

of judgeships is determined in New Mexico statute. In the last three years 15 judgeships have

been statutorily created. This bill would increase district and metropolitan judgeships by over 15

percent.

The New Mexico Sentencing Commission with the assistance of the National Center for State

Courts conducted a workload assessment study in 2007 for the judiciary, district attorneys, and

public defenders. The study indicates a need for twenty-four district court judges, five

metropolitan court judges, and six magistrate judges. The study assigned a weight, expressed in

minutes, for each type of case heard in court. Each weight is multiplied by the number of new

cases filed per category of case.

The Chief Judges Council reviewed all district, metropolitan, and magistrate judgeship requests

statewide and considered both the need as determined by the workload assessment study applied

to FY 07 filings, as well as additional narrative and testimonial information. The Chief Judges

Council decided to gradually fill this need, supporting a total of twelve new judgeships in FY 09

in the judiciary’s unified budget. The five judgeships in HB 439 were designated as the judges

critically needed.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The courts are participating in performance-based budgeting. The bill may have an impact on

the measures of the district courts in the following areas:

. Cases disposed of as a percent of cases filed

. Percent change in case filings by case type

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Additional judgeships will reduce backlogs and decrease case processing times.

RELATIONSHIP

SB 9 and SB 10

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Courts listed in this bill may continue to experience delays in hearing and disposing of cases.

CS/mt