Crime package headed to New Mexico House
Rep. Christine Chandler, (D-Los Alamos), right, and Megan Dorsey, an attorney and expert witness, present a package of crime bills to the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 12, 2025. (Photo by Eddie Moore / Albuquerque Journal)
The New Mexico House Judiciary Committee voted on Wednesday afternoon in a 7-4 party-line vote to advance a package of six bills intended to reduce crime.
The package of legislation, including bills with sponsors from both parties, now heads to the floor of the House of Representatives. It was not clear on Wednesday when the House would actually vote.
Committee Chair Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) is sponsoring the package called House Bill 8. She said the bills were rolled into one in response to public interest 'and our commitment to the public to address crime swiftly.'
'We are doing that through a collection of bills that I think are very meaningful and impactful,' Chandler said.
A self-described Public Safety Coalition composed of 11 civic organizations issued a news release with comments it said would have been delivered had public comments been allowed in the hearing. However, Chandler said no public comments would be allowed as each bill within the package had already been through the public comment process.
In that statement, the coalition, which includes NM Native Vote, Equality New Mexico, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless, said while members appreciated the collaborative work done to address their concerns about the criminal competency proposals, the final bill fails to address root causes and instead 'focuses on new crimes, increased punishments, and forced hospitalization.'
In a statement, ACLU-NM Interim Director of Public Policy Lena Weber said the caucus proposals 'wrapped up into HB8 now depart starkly from those championed by these community voices. While the proposal makes significant improvements from the proposals of the 2024 special session, HB8 still relies principally on coerced care and forced hospitalization, which we know often exacerbate the very problems they seek to fix.'
Rep. Steven McQueen (D-Santa Fe) said he voted for the package to reach the House, but said his vote on the floor 'may be different.' After the hearing, he told Source NM he opposes House Bill 106, which gives police officers more leeway to collect and test someone's blood if they are suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Rep. Nicole Chavez (R-Albuquerque) said she voted against the package because it doesn't go far enough and doesn't include her proposed changes to the Delinquency Act, which governs how the state can hold children accountable for behavior that would be considered criminal if they were over 18.
Chandler said that bill would be inappropriate to include in this package because it hasn't been heard in any committee yet, while every bill in this package had already been discussed.
'It will be heard in due course,' Chandler told Chavez. 'It will not be in this package, as I understand it.'
House Bill 4 would give prosecutors more options to involuntarily commit people into a locked psychiatric facility if they are found to be dangerous and unable to stand trial.
House Bill 16 would increase sentences for trafficking fentanyl, depending on how many pills the defendant is convicted of possessing.
House Bill 31 would more severely punish the crime of threatening to shoot people by increasing the attached penalty from a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum possible jail sentence between six months and one year, to a fourth-degree felony, which comes with 18 months in prison.
House Bill 38 would ban devices that can convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic ones.
House Bill 50 would group together the sentences for four different crimes related to stealing motor vehicles. State law already requires longer prison terms if someone commits one of these crimes on multiple occasions, but HB50 would make subsequent convictions carry greater sentences for having violated any of the four statutes.
House Bill 106 would allow police officers to test someone's blood for drugs or alcohol if they refuse to take a breath test and the police have probable cause to believe they committed a misdemeanor. Existing law only allows police to test someone's blood when they drive under the influence and either kill or seriously injure someone, or when the drive impaired and the officer has probable cause to believe they also committed a felony while doing so.
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