21-03-2025
New Mexico lawmakers push juvenile crime bill before session ends
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – As a high-profile murder puts the issue of juvenile crime back in the spotlight, lawmakers are scrambling to take action before the session ends. This, after one major juvenile crime proposal stalled in the roundhouse. A Democratic bill, HB 255, is aiming to reform how juvenile crime is dealt with in the state. If it were to pass it would include additional penalties and resources to help youth get back on track.
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'This is an all hands on deck approach and not one bill will fix any of these issues, that's why we have been focused on a package of different bills that include behavioral health, that include criminal reform,' said Speaker of the House Representative Javier Martinez (D-Albuquerque).
After three juveniles were accused of hitting and killing an Albuquerque man with a car, lawmakers are pushing a bill that would make updates to how juveniles are dealt with in New Mexico. A Democratic bill looks to make changes to the Juvenile Corrections Act.
Which would include being able to charge youth with 'voluntary manslaughter.' It would also give judges more discretion over sentence lengths as well as give them more say in recommending rehabilitation programs. The bill was heard in committee this week and sparked mixed reactions.
'I think it has a nice balance of both rewards and incentives for youth to work their program, work their rehabilitation, but it also has an accountability piece that's built into it as well,' said Nick Castalles, a supporter of the bill.
'True accountability for harm comes from changed behavior and from preventing future violence and this cannot be achieved by exposing children who cause harm themselves to the dangers of adult incarceration,' said Denali Wilson, with the ACLU of New Mexico.
If passed, the bill would also create the Juvenile Community Connections Grant Fund. That would give delinquents resources to help them get rehabilitated. The bill passed the committee Wednesday and is now headed to the Senate floor. If it passes there, it would go to the governor's desk.
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