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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR

SPAC

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/13/07

2/24/07 HB

SHORT TITLE Monitoring of Nonviolent Felony Offenders

SB 835/aSPAC

ANALYST Peery-Galon

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Responses Received From

New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD)

Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

No Response Received From

Public Defender Department (PDD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SPAC Amendment

The Senate Public Affairs Committee amendments to the Senate Public Affairs Committee

Substitute for Senate Bill 835 adds language to include pre-trail release and the monitoring of

persons charged with a felony offense or charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor offense.

Synopsis of Original Bill

The Senate Public Affairs Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 835 amends Section 30-20-5.1

NMSA 1978 to create a Misdemeanor and Felony Compliance Program to monitor defendants’

compliance with the conditions of probation imposed by a district or magistrate court. The

program is limited to participation by individuals that have been convicted of a felony offense or

a misdemeanor criminal offense specified in the Criminal Code, convicted of driving while under

the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, or convicted of driving while the person’s driver’s

license is suspended or revoked pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Code. Also, the county may

exclude from the program defendants charged with violent felonies, in which the defendant uses

or threatens the use of force.

Senate Bill 835/aSPAC – Page

2

The proposed legislation increase the maximum fee, as a condition of probation, the district or

magistrate court may require a defendant to pay to $80.00 per month. The county may also

require the defendant to pay a fee not to exceed the amount necessary to cover the cost of

implementing the monitoring of the defendant who is participating in the Misdemeanor and

Felony Compliance Program. The county can choose to waive the fee when the defendant is

unable to pay.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

AODA states the proposed legislation could become a financial burden for counties, if judges do

not enforce the probation fees.

AOC states there will be minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution and

documentation of statutory changes. AOC reports additional fiscal impact on the judiciary

would be proportional to the enforcement of this law, commenced prosecutions and new

procedures required of the court. AOC notes new laws, amendments to existing laws and new

hearing have the potential to increase caseloads in the courts.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

NMCD states the Senate Public Affairs Committee amendments to the Senate Public Affairs

Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 835 clearly defines that the Misdemeanor and Felony

Compliance Program will pertain to only individuals accused or charged with felony crimes and

not those convicted of felony crimes. The New Mexico Corrections Department will supervise

convicted felons on probation, while the Misdemeanor and Felony Compliance Program will

monitor misdemeanor offenders and accused felons.

The county compliance program was created to address the lack of supervision of misdemeanor

offenders. AOC reports the county compliance program endorses the belief that effective

supervision at this stage might help some offenders to turn their lives around. The program

operates under the guidelines issued by the AOC. There are several counties that have not

chosen to establish a misdemeanor compliance program.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

AOC states the district court’s performance measure for clearance rates may be impacted if

increased surveillance of felony offenders requires increased amounts of judge and clerk time to

dispose of cases.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

AOC states there may be an administrative impact on the courts as the result of an increase in

caseload and/or the amount of time necessary to dispose of cases.

RPG/mt