First public safety bills pass through committee Tuesday evening - Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
After six hours of questions and deliberation, the first batch of public safety bills proposed this legislative session passed their first committee Tuesday evening.
The House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee voted unanimously to advance House Bill 4: Criminal Competency and Treatment, and 4-2 on House Bill 12: Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Changes.
Hypothetical situations and admonitions to stay on topic were the name of the game during the meeting, with several hours of discussion also devoted House Bill 123, the Library Protection Act, is a proposal to require public libraries adopt a policy prohibiting the banning of books and other library materials.
CRIMINAL COMPETENCY
House Bill 4, co-sponsored by Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) and Marianna Anaya (D- Albuquerque) proposes changes to the state’s processes for competency evaluation in criminal cases, expands options for people found not competent and changes how courts weigh “dangerousness” and someone’s ability to understand criminal charges levied against them.
The bill is an updated version of a law the governor wanted passed over the summer during the short lived special session. After the unanimous do pass vote out of committee, HB4 heads to the House Judiciary Committee.
Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces) said she has supported similar bills in the past, but believes HB4 will give New Mexicans choices. She added that there are people in New Mexico communities who need more support than the state is currently offering.
“I’ve never been supportive of this issue in the past and I think part of the reason is because it just became so politicized,” Rubio said during the meeting. “Just because we’re voting ‘yes’ doesn’t mean that this is the end to making this legislation better.”
Co-sponsor Anaya shared a personal story about her cousin who has been through the state’s current competency system numerous times. Anaya told Source NM she was emotional about the unanimous vote.
“I don’t feel like many bills come to this committee and have a unanimous vote, and to me that means a lot. That we were able to get to a place with the competency bill that preserves individual rights, individual liberties and also helps families who are actually looking for help across the state,” she said.
RED FLAG CHANGES
House Bill 12, also co-sponsored by Chandler, along with Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Albuquerque) received a party-line pass through committee by a vote of 4-2 after two hours of questioning. The bill would allow law enforcement officers to file petitions for extreme firearm protection orders (ERFPOs), which they are not currently able to do. If the petition is signed by a judge, the person will be required to hand over their firearms immediately rather than after a 48-hour pause.
Supporters and opponents packed the room, including members of various public safety departments in the state. Village of Angel Fire Police Chief Jerry Hogrefe was one such person who stood in support of the bill and also spoke during Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public safety town hall in Raton several weeks ago.
“It makes little sense to me that under state statute 43-1-10 a police officer can take a person into protective custody,” for their and others protection Hogrefe said, “but we cannot seize the weapons of choice, i.e., firearms.”
Others were concerned that the bill would infringe on Second and Fourth Amendment rights. Committee members Reps. John Block (R-Alamogordo) and Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) raised concerns about due process if firearms were to be handed over immediately.
“I don’t think we should ever take a person’s life, liberty or property without having their say,” Lord told the committee.
Danielle Prokop contributed to the reporting and writing of this article.
After last year's deadlock, governor says she's hopeful for bipartisan breakthrough on crime bills - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
With some bills already moving at the Roundhouse, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Tuesday she’s hopeful a bipartisan package of anti-crime measures will hit her desk by mid-February.
Flanked by law enforcement officials and both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, the governor pushed back on suggestions she had not previously prioritized crime issues since taking office in 2019.
She also said she does not agree that New Mexico’s high violent crime rate is due more to a lack of enforcement of existing laws than a need for tougher laws, a position some lawmakers have articulated.
“Frankly, even if that was true, we have a crisis,” Lujan Grisham said. “And you better do everything in your power to address that crisis, otherwise, I don’t know how you look families in the eye.”
More than 40 bills dealing with crime and criminal penalties have already been filed since the start of New Mexico’s 60-day legislative session and some lawmakers say there’s a greater sense of urgency to address the issue this year amid a spike of violent crimes involving juvenile offenders.
Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, who plans to file about 10 crime-related bills, credited Lujan Grisham with “lighting a fire” under legislators to address the issue.
And Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, applauded the governor for working with Republicans and Democrats alike on public safety issues.
“Crime is all over this state,” Brandt said during Tuesday’s news conference. “It’s no longer just an Albuquerque problem and I’m tired of hearing that.”
However, some groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union-New Mexico, have pushed back against the push for stiffer criminal penalties, saying lawmakers should focus instead on preventive measures.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said Tuesday that violent crime overall appears to be trending down in New Mexico.
But he said violent juvenile crime is “out of control,” saying 25 defendants under age 18 are currently detained and facing murder charges in New Mexico.
Lujan Grisham said many bills have been improved since a special session last summer that ended with the Democratic-controlled Legislature not taking action on most of her crime-focused agenda.
“What came to light is none of us, including my office, were really looking at the data about what was happening in our communities,” the governor said.
A TURNING TIDE ON CRIME BILLS?
After last year’s special session deadlock, lawmakers appear to be moving quickly on some crime-related bills this year.
The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to discuss five bills in a Wednesday hearing, including a proposal that would make it a capital felony for anyone convicted of selling fentanyl to another person who dies of an overdose.
Capital felonies under New Mexico law include first-degree murder and are punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Lujan Grisham on Tuesday described the bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, as a “powerful” proposal.
She also indicated her support for a bill, House Bill 4, that would change New Mexico’s judicial procedures for cases involving defendants with mental illness.
Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, the bill’s sponsor, said voluntary treatment is still preferable for defendants who are willing to seek it, but said some individuals need a “push” to get help.
“I feel confident that it’s the right approach to address the concerns we’ve all been hearing since the summer,” Chandler said during Tuesday’s news conference.
The bill was being debated late Tuesday in its first assigned House committee.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SYSTEM FIXES ON THE MOVE
With less than two years left in her tenure as New Mexico governor, Lujan Grisham is staking much of her remaining political capital on her crime-focused agenda.
But the governor has also expressed an openness to expanding New Mexico’s behavioral health system for individuals with mental illness or substance abuse disorders.
Top-ranking Senate Democrats have said they plan to quickly move a package of bills on the issue, including a proposal for a $1 billion behavioral health trust fund.
That package of bills is scheduled for its first hearing Wednesday in the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee.
“We aren’t going to vilify poverty or mental health issues,” Lujan Grisham said. “But we aren’t going to tolerate ... criminality anywhere in the state.”
Kirtland Air Force Base to start prescribed burns near Southeast ABQ - Elizabeth McCall, City Desk ABQ
Kirtland Air Force Base will start clearing out vegetation through prescribed burns Jan. 29 and will continue through Feb. 5 near the Juan Tabo Hills and Four Hills Village areas.
The base has been conducting prescribed burns since 2018 to reduce the chances of wildfire in wildfire-prone areas. Robert Smith, media and environmental chief for the base’s public affairs office, said this schedule gives the fire crews a chance to manage the prescribed burns to minimize the smoke impact on the communities.
“We need a certain temperature, we need a certain wind direction and we need certain wind speeds to all be within a certain window for us to do those things,” Smith said. “We don’t want to do it when the wind is going to be lower, blowing directly at [the communities]. We want it going the other way, back onto Kirtland.”
The crews will start early in the morning and end the burns in the afternoon so there is more ventilation and divide treatment areas into smaller units to limit the smoke impact, but smoke will still be visible to Albuquerque residents.
New Mexico and 22 other states sue to block Trump's federal funding freeze - By Nash Jones, KUNM News
New Mexico joined 22 other states in filing a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration for its plan to freeze federal funds for state-administered programs.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez confirmed the funding pause disrupted essential services in New Mexico, “including healthcare, law enforcement, education, infrastructure and community development.” Torrez called the move “not only unlawful,” but “reckless.”
NPR reports a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C. Tuesday temporarily blocked the funding freeze for existing programs until Monday in a separate suit brought by the National Council of Nonprofits.
Torrez says the states’ suit seeks to get funding flowing again in the immediate, “While the broader legal challenge proceeds.”
The memo released yesterday by the Office of Management and Budget has caused widespread confusion over what the freeze applies to. In an effort to understand the scope of its impact in New Mexico, the state Department of Justice is asking anyone who experienced funding disruptions to fill out a form on its website.
Another APD officer resigns after being connected to alleged DWI scheme — By Daniel Montaño, KUNM News
Another Albuquerque police officer chose to leave the force after being connected to an investigation within the DWI unit.
Lieutenant Kyle Curtis was placed on administrative leave on Friday and was informed Tuesday he would have to report for an interview with a task force investigating several current and former DWI officers, according to a news release.
Curtis turned in his retirement paperwork Tuesday before facing the interview.
The Albuquerque Police Department’s Internal Affairs Task Force has been investigating the DWI unit in connection to an alleged scandal involving a local attorney wherein officers didn’t show up to certain court cases.
Curtis is the 10th of 12 officers placed on administrative leave in connection to the investigation to resign, retire or be terminated.
APD’s administrative investigation started after the FBI raided Attorney Thomas Clear’s office and home a little more than a year ago. The bureau is conducting its own criminal investigation into the allegations of illegal conduct, but no officers have yet been charged. Clear's private investigator Ricardo "Rick" Mendez pleaded guilty Friday to racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges.
U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez says the investigation will continue even if he is removed from office by the Trump Administration, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Federal officials are asking witnesses to come forward if they have information on the investigation.