44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

RELATING TO COURTS; PROVIDING FOR AN ADDITIONAL MAGISTRATE IN SIERRA COUNTY; PROVIDING FOR APPOINTMENT AND ELECTION; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE NMSA 1978; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 35-1-30 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1968, Chapter 62, Section 32) is amended to read:

"35-1-30. MAGISTRATE COURT--SIERRA DISTRICT.--There shall be [one magistrate] two magistrates in Sierra magistrate district, with [a] divisions 1 and 2 operating as a single court in Truth or Consequences."

Section 2. TEMPORARY PROVISION--SIERRA COUNTY--APPOINTMENT AND ELECTION--DIVISION.--

A. The office of magistrate in Sierra magistrate division 2 shall be filled by appointment by the governor. The appointed magistrate shall begin serving on July 1, 1999 and shall serve until succeeded by a magistrate elected pursuant to the provisions of Subsection B of this section.

B. The first full term of the office of magistrate in Sierra magistrate division 2 shall be filled by election at the general election in 2000, and that term of office shall begin on January 1, 2001.

Section 3. APPROPRIATION.--Seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the administrative office of the courts for expenditure in fiscal year 2000 for the purpose of providing a salary, benefits, travel, furniture, supplies and office costs for one new magistrate judge in Sierra magistrate district division 2. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2000 shall revert to the general fund.

Section 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 1999.