Pretrial Detention

In his State of the Judiciary address before the Legislature Thursday, New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice David K. Thomson touted recent reforms to pretrial detention and called for continued collaboration among the three branches of government.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill Monday that amends state law dealing with detaining defendants before they’re given a fair trial. It requires that courts jail people accused of committing a second felony while awaiting trial for a first until a hearing is held to review their conditions of release. The governor and bill sponsor Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto (D-Bernalillo) touted the measure at its signing as a major win for public safety, but it may have little impact.

In a statement Monday evening, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she was “dismayed” that a Senate committee didn’t pass a bill that would keep more New Mexicans accused of crimes behind bars before being given a fair trial. Similar proposals have been shot down several years in a row now over concerns that it’s not a lawful or effective way to reduce violent crime in the state.

A bill with the backing of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that would make it easier to detain New Mexicans accused, yet not convicted, of crimes has stalled in the Senate due to concerns it violates the state constitution.

Among the crime bills in the legislative session this year is one that would detain certain people before trial without bond based on a presumption that they’re too dangerous to be released. If this bill is passed, the cost to state and local general funds for keeping defendants jailed and providing public defenders until trial would be just over $15 million annually.

New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice C. Shannon Bacon touted accessibility initiatives and called on lawmakers to weigh the fiscal and human impact of criminal justice reforms in her State of the Judiciary address to a joint session of the New Mexico legislature Tuesday. She also urged legislators to better fund the coequal branch of government.