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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Maestas
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/5/07
HB 607
SHORT TITLE
Domestic Disturbance Arrests Without Warrants
SB
ANALYST C.Sanchez
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
NFI
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates,
HB 423 and SB 446
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
Attorney General’ Office (AGO)
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Administrative Office of the District Attorney (AODA)
Public Defenders
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 607 amends Section 31-1-7 NMSA 1978 to clarify when a law enforcement officer
can make a warrantless arrest in response to a domestic disturbance that results in assault or
battery on a household member.
The bill removes language requiring the arrest to be made at the scene of the disturbance, and
allows an officer to make warrantless arrest when three criteria are met:
1.
An officer responds to a domestic disturbance and believes an assault or battery on a
household member has occurred,
2.
The officer believes exigent circumstances support making an immediate arrest, and
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House Bill 607 – Page
2
3.
Within twenty-four hours of arriving at the scene the officer has probable cause to believe
that the person has committed an assault or battery on a household member, even if the
person is no longer present at the scene
Although not defined in the bill, “exigent" is generally defined as an emergency or imminent
danger.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The number of domestic violence cases filed will likely increase throughout the State.
However, there will be a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution and
documentation of statutory changes. Any additional fiscal impact on the state would be
proportional to the enforcement of this law and commenced prosecutions. New laws,
amendments to existing laws and new hearings have the potential to increase caseloads in the
courts, thus requiring additional resources to handle the increase.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
A common fact pattern occurs when police respond to a reported act of domestic violence and
they encounter only the victim but not the offender. At the scene, usually informed by reports
from the victim or other witnesses, the police learn or suspect that the offender can be found at a
different location. Some law enforcement agencies across New Mexico feel constrained by the
law from arresting the offender in these circumstances unless
the offender is found physically
right at the scene where the event occurred.
As many offenders leave the scene to avoid immediate arrest, law enforcement agencies
interpreting current law as prohibiting an arrest unless the suspect is at the scene when the
officers arrive, place victims in a dangerous situation. In reality, few officers will ever seek a
warrant for a crime involving misdemeanor assault or battery on a household member.
Lack of manpower, the number of calls a field officer may have holding, and detectives who are
assigned to investigate felony crimes only, all are factors contributing to this reality. Another
reality is most victims will not go to a shelter, preferring instead to remain in their homes, many
times in an attempt to prevent further trauma on children who may have witnessed the violence.
There are documented instances when victims have suffered further abuse upon the return of the
offender after the police have left the scene. Many offenders will call the victim while the police
are still at the scene threatening or intimidating the victim over the phone for having called the
police. Victims have been informed by officers at the scene of an assault or battery that when the
offender was located around the block or several blocks away that the police had no authority to
make an arrest, only a criminal summons could be issued.
Police officers are usually limited when making a misdemeanor arrest by the requirement that the
misdemeanor be committed in the officer’s presence, a rule created by the courts and not
required by either the New Mexico Constitution or the United States Constitution. See
Boone v.
State
, 105 N.M. 223, 226, 731 P.2d 366 (1986) (“We long have held that, in the absence of
statutory authority, a duly authorized peace officer may make an arrest for a misdemeanor
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House Bill 607 – Page
3
without a warrant only if he has probable cause or reasonable grounds to believe that the offense
has been committed in his presence"). New Mexico has adopted a number of statutory
exceptions to this rule. The exceptions include statutes authorizing misdemeanor arrests for
shoplifting and one for at the scene of a motor vehicle accident. See
NMSA 1978, Section 30-16-
23 (1965) (“law enforcement officer may arrest without warrant any person he has probable
cause for believing has committed the crime of shoplifting"); NMSA 1978 Section 66-8-125
(1978) (officer may arrest without a warrant “any person present at the scene of a motor vehicle
accident" where officer has “reasonable grounds to believe the person committed a crime").
The two primary sources for the misdemeanor arrest authority of police in domestic violence
situations are found in the Family Violence Protection Act and in the Criminal Procedure Act’s
warrant less arrest statute that specifically addresses certain domestic disturbance misdemeanors.
05-05 Op. Att’y Gen. 2 (2005).
The Family Violence Protection Act (“FVPA"), NMSA 1978, Section 40-13-2(C) (1995),
defines domestic abuse as “any incident by a household member against another household
member resulting in…" a number of listed consequences, including physical harm, bodily injury
or assault, or threats thereof, and damage to property. The FVPA arrest restriction is broader,
imposing the requirement that the officer take steps, including arrest, when “reasonably
necessary to protect the victim from further domestic abuse." NMSA 1978, Section 40-13-7(B)
(1995). There is no time or place restriction stated in the FVPA arrest authority beyond the
requirement that the arrest be reasonably necessary to protect the victim. It is legislative policy
that in domestic abuse incidents “New Mexico discourages dual arrests of persons involved" and
requires that the “law enforcement officer, in making arrests for domestic abuse, shall seek to
identify and shall consider whether one of the parties acted in self defense." NMSA 1978,
Section 40-13-1.1 (2002). The other primary authority for domestic abuse misdemeanor arrest
authority is Section 31-1-7, NMSA 1978, the Warrant less Arrest Act statute provides, “a peace
officer may arrest a person and take the person into custody without a warrant when the officer is
at the scene of a domestic disturbance
and has probable cause to believe that the person has
committed an assault or battery upon a household member."
Tension arises from the phrase, “[w]hen the officer is at the scene of a domestic disturbance"
because this phrase can be read to limit the officer’s misdemeanor arrest authority to arresting
only a person directly and physically at the scene of the disturbance at the same time as the
police officer. Such an interpretation would be antithetical, however, to the purpose and tenor of
both the FVPA and the specific grant of misdemeanor arrest authority in Section 31-1-7, since it
would undercut the most useful application of such authority. 05-05 Op. Att’y Gen. 3 (2005).
By deleting “at the scene of," House Bill 607 removes the language that some in law
enforcement have interpreted to limit their arrest authority to arresting only those physically at
the scene of the disturbance with the police officer.
When officers are dispatched to a domestic disturbance most often they respond to the location
of the caller who is usually the victim. Frequently, the victim will have left the location of the
domestic disturbance to escape further violence and locate a safe place from which law
enforcement can be notified. Officers may respond to a neighbor’s home, a workplace, a pay
phone or an emergency room. Deleting “at the scene of" also recognizes that a victim may
travel to another location as a safety measure before notifying police.
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House Bill 607 – Page
4
There is no express requirement in 31-1-7, NMSA 1978 that the abuser needs to be physically at
the scene of the domestic disturbance at the same time as the police officer.
House Bill 607 would allow the FVPA and Section 31-1-7 to be read consistently and
harmoniously in that the restriction on an officer’s arrest authority where an act of domestic
violence or abuse occurs would be that the arrest be reasonably necessary and reasonably
prompt. See
High Ridge Hinkle Joint Venture v. City of Albuquerque
, 126 N.M. 413, 415, 970
P.2d 599 (1998) (provisions in statutes should be read together as harmoniously as possible).
“No precise geographic or temporal bright lines can be drawn and the lawfulness of any
particular arrest depends on how closely it adheres to the reasonableness requirement." If officers
arrest a domestic abuser across town well after the event and do so not to protect the victim but
because the victim has informed them the abuser is carrying a substantial quantity of drugs and
cash, a district court can correctly conclude the arrest fails the requirement that it be reasonably
necessary to protect the victim." See
State v. Miller
, 1997-NMCA-060, ¶5, 123 N.M. 507, cert.
denied
, 123 N.M. 257, 939 P.2d 1065 (1997) (upholding suppression of the drugs and cash when
the officer admitted that “but for the drugs and money, the police officer would not have sought
Defendant"). 05-05 Op. Att’y Gen. 4 (2005).
Under the misdemeanor arrest provisions of these statutes, officers have protection from civil
liability for the exercise of their misdemeanor arrest authority. See
NMSA 1978, Section 31-1-
7(B) (1995) (“No peace officer shall be held criminally or civilly liable for making an arrest
pursuant to this section, provided he acts in good faith and without malice"); NMSA 1978,
Section 40-13-7(D) (1995) (“Any law enforcement officer responding to the request for
assistance under the Family Violence Protection Act is immune from civil liability to the extent
allowed by law"). While these statutes provide protection from civil liability for exercising the
arrest authority found in the statutes, neither statute addresses civil liability for the consequences
arising from failure to make an arrest. To the extent the statutes address civil liability, they favor
exercising the arrest authority over declining to exercise it.
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
The courts are participating in performance-based budgeting. This bill may have an impact on
the measures of the district courts in the following areas:
Cases disposed of as a percent of cases filed
Percent change in case filings by case type
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
Departmental policy development will vary greatly as agencies grapple with the interpretation of
the new language and attempt to provide guidance on the temporal spatial relationships of an
appropriate arrest when the suspect is not there when the officer arrives.
DUPLICATION,
HB 423 and SB 446
CONFLICT,
The proposed enactment affects the enforcement of the Crimes Against Household Members
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House Bill 607 – Page
5
Act, Sections 30-3-10 through 30-3-16, creating an additional requirement that officers
determine “exigent circumstances" exist prior to performing a warrant less arrest of a person
whom the officer has probable cause to believe has violated the provisions of that act.
The proposed enactment directly conflicts with the provisions of the Family Violence Protection
Act, Chapter 40, Article 13. The Family Violence Protection Act requires law enforcement
officers to assist alleged victims of domestic abuse by taking certain actions. Included among
such actions is a requirement that the officer “arrest[] the abusing household member when
appropriate. . ." §40-13-7 (B)(5). No determination of exigent circumstances is required. The
responding officer is “immune from civil liability to the extent allowed by law." Section 40-13-7
(D), NMSA 1978 (1995 amendments). In addition, where there has been a violation of a
restraining order in conjunction with a domestic disturbance, the officer “shall arrest without a
warrant and take into custody a person whom the peace officer has probable cause to believe has
violated an order." Section 40-13-6 (C), NMSA 1978. The arrest of a person who has violated a
restraining order is thus a non-discretionary act; the officer is required to arrest, regardless of
whether exigent circumstances independently exist.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
Amending the statute as proposed would subject law enforcement agencies, governing bodies of
municipalities, counties and the State of New Mexico to potential litigation over any warrant less
domestic violence arrest, by opening the door to claims that the arrest was not proper in that
“exigent circumstances" did not exist at the time the arrest was made. This has potential fiscal
impact both for payment of potential claims, and in the cost of investigating, defending, and re
solving such claims.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
In Section 31-1-7A(2) it is uncertain what “within twenty-four hours after the officer first arrives
at the scene of a domestic disturbance" is modifying. Consequently, the meaning of the phrase is
unclear. It could mean that the arrest must be made within twenty-four hours of an officer
arriving at the scene of the domestic disturbance or it could mean that the officer has twenty-
fours to develop probable cause that a crime occurred. The second interpretation seems to negate
the exigent circumstances requirement of the bill.
ALTERNATIVES
The Department of Public Safety believes the following statement should be included in HB 607:
“When the investigating officer develops probable cause that a crime against a household
member has occurred the officer shall make an immediate arrest to include instances when the
suspect is found later at a physical location away from the original investigation. The time and
distance away from the original investigation must be reasonable in light of the victim’s safety."
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
If this bill is not passed the current law will remain subject to the varying interpretation of
individual district attorney’s offices and individual police agencies.
CS/mt