SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – The governor is just weeks away from calling lawmakers back to Santa Fe for a special session on crime, and now she’s walking back some of her agenda after hearing lawmaker’s concerns. The Governor’s Office is looking to present five bills, including three changes to the criminal code and two relating to mental competency.
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“What we’ve decided is condense the goals here and what we are looking to do, what the governor is looking to do with the bills I’m going to discuss,” said Holly Agajanian, Chief General Counsel for the Office of the Governor.
The bills the governor’s hoping to get passed in the two-day session next month were presented to the Courts, Corrections, and Justice Committee Wednesday evening.
The first proposal deals with mental health and changes to involuntary commitment procedures. “What it does is it changes our definitions in our involuntary commitment and our AOT (Assisted Outpatient Treatment) statutes. It changes the definitions of likelihood of harms to self and likelihood of harm to others,” Agajanian said.
Another proposal deals with competency in court: “In a case where somebody has been found incompetent to stand trial, just as a general matter, the court must advise the district attorney to consider initiation of involuntary commitment proceedings,” Agajaniansaid.
The governor is looking at three other bills reshaping the criminal code: including increasing penalties for felons in possession of a firearm to a minimum of nine years behind bars. Another bill would make it illegal to be on a median where the speed limit is more than 30 miles per hour—in an attempt to curb pedestrian deaths and panhandling.
“New Mexico leads per capita and has historically for many years at the top of most categories related to pedestrian death,” said Benjamin Baker, senior Public Safety Advisor for the Office of the Governor.
Lastly, the governor is eyeing a bill requiring law enforcement to report crime and ballistics data to the state monthly.
“It’s statistical data for the purposes of helping us inform what’s good policy, what’s good lawmaking, and what’s good advice,” Baker said.
The policy proposals drew mixed reactions from lawmakers.
“I don’t really see anything here that is so urgent that we need to go to a special session and I see things we could have worked on over the summer and address them in next session,” said Rep. Stefani Lord, (R-Sandia Park).
“I think the governor is in her full right and authority to call the special session; I think it’s a great idea cause everyone since the gov[ernor] called for the special session, everyone has kind of picked up their game and everyone is really cognizant of fighting crime,” saod Sen. Antonio ‘Moe’ Maestas, (D-Albuquerque).
The governor’s staff also says she has dialed back her call to change assisted outpatient treatment in New Mexico, calling it too much to deal with in a special session.
News 13 reached out to the Governor’s Office to find out if there are other bills they’d like to see passed; we’re waiting to hear back.
