HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL 107
51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013
AN ACT
RELATING TO COURTS; PROVIDING FOR THE USE OF MUNICIPAL COURT CORRECTIONS FEES AND MUNICIPAL COURT PENALTY ASSESSMENT FEES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 35-14-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1983, Chapter 134, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:
"35-14-11. MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE--COURT COSTS--
COLLECTION--PURPOSE.--
A. Every municipality shall enact an ordinance requiring assessment of corrections fees, judicial education fees and court automation fees to be collected as court costs and used as provided in this section.
B. A municipal judge shall collect the following costs:
(1) a corrections fee of twenty dollars ($20.00);
(2) a judicial education fee of three dollars ($3.00); and
(3) a court automation fee of six dollars ($6.00).
C. The fees are to be collected upon conviction from persons convicted of violating any ordinance relating to the operation of a motor vehicle or any ordinance that may be enforced by the imposition of a term of imprisonment.
D. All money collected pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection B of this section shall be deposited in a special fund in the municipal treasury and shall be used for:
(1) municipal jailer or juvenile detention officer training;
(2) the construction planning, construction, operation and maintenance of a municipal jail or juvenile detention facility;
(3) paying the cost of housing municipal prisoners in a county jail or detention facility or housing juveniles in a detention facility;
(4) complying with match or contribution requirements for the receipt of federal funds relating to jails or juvenile detention facilities;
(5) providing inpatient treatment or other substance abuse programs in conjunction with or as an alternative to jail sentencing;
(6) defraying the cost of transporting prisoners to jails or juveniles to juvenile detention facilities; or
(7) providing electronic monitoring systems.
E. If a municipality with a population less than three thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census has a balance in its special fund pursuant to Subsection D of this section that is over the amount projected to be needed for the next fiscal year for the purposes set forth in that subsection, the municipality may transfer the unneeded balance to the municipality's general fund.
[E.] F. A municipality may credit the interest collected from fees deposited in the special fund pursuant to Subsection D of this section to the municipality's general fund.
[F.] G. All money collected pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subsection B of this section shall be remitted monthly to the state treasurer for credit to the judicial education fund and shall be used for the education and training, including production of bench books and other written materials, of municipal judges and other municipal court employees.
[G.] H. All money collected pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection B of this section shall be remitted monthly to the state treasurer for credit to the municipal court automation fund and shall be used for the purchase, maintenance and operation of court automation systems in the municipal courts. Operation includes staff expenses, temporary or otherwise, and costs as needed to comply with Section 35-14-12 NMSA 1978. The court automation systems shall have the capability of providing, on a timely basis, electronic records in a format specified by the judicial information systems council.
[H.] I. As used in this section, "convicted" means the defendant has been found guilty of a criminal charge by a municipal judge, either after trial, a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere."
SECTION 2. Section 66-8-130 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 538, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-8-130. ALL TRAFFIC CITATIONS TO CONFORM--MUNICIPALITIES MAY PASS ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH SIMILAR PROGRAM.--
A. The uniform traffic citation shall be used by all state and local agencies enforcing laws and ordinances relating to motor vehicles. Any municipality may, by passage of an ordinance, establish a municipal penalty assessment program similar to that established in Sections 66-8-116 through 66-8-117 NMSA 1978 for violations of provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code. Every municipality that has adopted an ordinance to establish a penalty assessment program shall assess on all penalty assessment misdemeanors after January 1, 1984, in addition to the penalty assessment, a penalty assessment fee of ten dollars ($l0.00) to be deposited in a special fund in the municipal treasury for use by the municipality only for municipal jailer training; for the construction planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the municipal jail; for paying the costs of housing that municipality's prisoners in other detention facilities in the state; or for complying with match or contribution requirements for the receipt of federal funds relating to jails. Such a municipal program shall be limited to violations of municipal traffic ordinances.
B. If a municipality with a population less than three thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census has a balance in its special fund pursuant to Subsection A of this section that is over the amount projected to be needed for the next fiscal year for the purposes set forth in that subsection, the municipality may transfer the unneeded balance to the municipality's general fund.
[B.] C. All penalty assessments under a municipal program authorized by this section shall be processed by the municipal court, and all fines and fees collected shall be deposited in the treasury of the municipality. A copy of each penalty assessment processed shall be forwarded to the division within ten days of completion of local processing for posting to the driver's record. With the prior approval of the director, the required information may be submitted to the division by electronic means in lieu of forwarding copies of the penalty assessments.
[C.] D. Each agency shall provide itself with copies conforming exactly in size and format with the uniform traffic citation prescribed by the director, and any alterations to conform with local conditions must be approved by the director."
SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2013.
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