In this year’s budget-focused session, both chambers of the 2024 New Mexico Legislature passed 17 bills related to crime, policing, prisons and public safety.
Majorities of lawmakers in both the House of Representatives and the Senate voted to increase police and judicial branch budgets across the board, to restrict guns, to create new crimes and to raise some criminal penalties.
They also passed bills that would sweeten retirement for police and firefighters, make it harder for people to get out of jail in some circumstances, and to require more public sector workers to go through background checks.
Bills are listed below in the order lawmakers introduced them.
Most of the bills listed are not laws. As of Monday afternoon, Gov. Michelle Lujan had not signed any bills beyond the three she signed during the session.
Before the 30-day session began, there were 20 bills that Lujan Grisham identified as crime and public safety priorities. The 17 bills lawmakers did pass were not all part of her priorities, and she said she is considering a special session focused on public safety.
Core state functions
House Bill 2, the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, includes $372.8 million for prisons, $294.7 million for courts, $240.3 million for police and military, $147.8 million for prosecutors and $87.2 million for public defenders and family advocates. These are all larger budgets than the previous year.
According to House Democrats, the budget bill includes $500 million in behavioral health investments through federal and state funds, $25 million for recruiting local police and corrections officers, $10 million for an Officer Pay Plan and a $3.5 million special appropriation for law enforcement vehicle equipment.
House Bill 141, signed by Lujan Grisham on Feb. 10, increases salaries for New Mexico Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges, and District Court judges.
House Bill 193 would expand which police officers can receive tenure-based bonuses from the Law Enforcement Retention Fund, to now include those officers who transfer between departments and those who work for more than 21 years.
House Bill 308 would allow the state to raise $10 million for the Department of Information Technology to build a public safety radio communications system.
Senate Bill 151 would divert 5% of the revenue from taxes on health insurance premiums from the General Fund to the Emergency Medical Services Fund, with the intent of increasing emergency medical services across the state and decreasing response times.
Senate Bill 175 would set aside $35 million to recruit state and local police officers, prison guards and probation and parole officers.
Hearing required on accusation of second felony
Senate Bill 271 would set new detainment requirements when someone is accused of a felony, gets released and then is accused of violating their release conditions by committing a new felony. If signed into the law, that person must be held in jail without bond for three to five days when they can get a hearing.
The bill came after years of debate around holding people accused of crimes in jail before trial, and the so-called “revolving door.” The governor pushed for “rebuttable presumptions” in pretrial detention hearings. That proposal fell flat, as critics said it would be unconstitutional.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces) said he believes SB 271, passed in the final week of the session, strikes “the right balance.”
“New Mexico knows we’re suffering from a crime problem, and my colleagues and I have spent this entire legislative session conducting hearings to find common-sense and constitutional legislative solutions,” Cervantes said.
Police and firefighter retirement
House Bill 236 would allow state and local police officers, sheriff’s deputies, court security, prison and jail guards, some state investigators, paramedics, firefighters, dispatchers who have retired to return to work and keep their pension payments.
Outgoing House Majority Leader Gail Chasey (D-Albuquerque) said the bill would “help fill important public safety roles by allowing certain retired professionals to return to work without losing their benefits.”
Senate Bill 128 would boost pension benefits for non-volunteer firefighters.
Gun legislation
House Bill 129 would require gun buyers to wait 7 days after purchase to actually receive a gun. The waiting period was initially proposed to be 14 days, but that was shortened in a committee with a bipartisan amendment.
Senate Bill 5 would make it a petty misdemeanor to carry a firearm within 100 feet of a polling place or within 50 feet of a ballot drop box during early voting or on election day. This was also another priority for the governor that was altered in the legislative process. One late amendment provides an exception for people with concealed carry weapon permits.
New crimes
House Bill 182 would create a new crime of publishing an intentionally deceptive political advertisement created in whole or in part with artificial intelligence. This bill allows the state to prosecute political campaigns if they refuse to disclose if any material is created with AI.
House Bill 239 would make non-prescribed cannabis contraband in state prisons and local jails.
Harsher criminal penalties
Senate Bill 6 would increase the penalty for a second or any subsequent conviction of trafficking cannabis from a fourth-degree felony to a third-degree felony. The bill would also give more administrative powers to the Cannabis Control Division.
Senate Bill 96, co-sponsored by Sen. Antonio Maestas (D-Albuquerque), would increase the penalty for attempted second-degree murder from three years to nine years, and would increase the penalty for second-degree murder from 15 years to 18 years.
“Far too many New Mexican families, including my own, are on a path to healing after losing loved ones to violent crime,” Maestas said. “No family can be made whole again after tragedy unexpectedly strikes, but Senate Bill 96 sends a strong message that the Roundhouse is listening, and we are acting.”
Background checks
Senate Bill 152 would allow the FBI to cooperate with background checks started by the Early Childhood Education and Care Department and would allow the Children Youth and Families Department to conduct background checks on a broader range of people.
Senate Bill 241 would require all workers, volunteers and people applying to work for the Aging and Long-Term Services Department to undergo criminal background checks.
Austin Fisher is a Senior Reporter with Source New Mexico. This article is republished from Source New Mexico under a Creative Commons license.
