SENATE MEMORIAL 74

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Eric G. Griego

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THREE AGENCIES COOPERATE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A NEW MEXICO VETERANS COURT.

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is home to more than one hundred eighty thousand veterans, some ten thousand of them Native Americans, according to the veterans' services department; and

     WHEREAS, most of those veterans have served during wartime, including almost forty thousand who served in Iraq or Afghanistan; and

     WHEREAS, military veterans in New Mexico have an estimated economic impact of more than one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000), according to the veterans' services department; and

     WHEREAS, post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury from wartime engagement, substance abuse and psychological problems may be more common among combat veterans upon their return home; and

     WHEREAS, these problems may cause a formerly law-abiding veteran to commit infractions of the law; and

     WHEREAS, some states and local communities have started veterans courts to divert veterans who commit crimes into programs directed at recovery from addictions, mental illness, post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury; and  

     WHEREAS, many of the veterans courts result from concerns that the numbers of returning soldiers will only increase for some years to come; and

     WHEREAS, a significant number of veterans courts involve job-placement services and psychological counseling as part of their jail-diversion programming; and

     WHEREAS, the states and local communities with veterans courts have predicted that significant savings will result from diverting veterans from expensive incarceration to socially productive programs that will aid society as they aid veterans;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the administrative office of the courts, the veterans' services department and the department of military affairs commence a joint study of the feasibility of establishing a New Mexico veterans court, including an analysis of projected caseloads and costs for the purpose of providing just and constructive interventions for United States combat veterans alleged to have broken the law when the alleged infraction is possibly related to traumatic brain injury or behavioral health issues; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the three agencies write a report and present it to the appropriate interim legislative committee by October 1, 2009; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the administrative office of the courts, the secretary of veterans' services and the adjutant general of New Mexico.

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