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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR King
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/25/08
HB 417
SHORT TITLE County Detention Facility Reimbursement Fund
SB
ANALYST Peery-Galon
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY08
FY09
$5,000.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
REVENUE (dollars in thousands)
Estimated Revenue
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY08
FY09
FY10
$5.000.0
Recurring
County Detention
Facility
Reimbursement Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY08
FY09
FY10 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
$0.1
$0.1
$0.1 Recurring General
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
New Mexico Corrections Department
No Responses Received From
Department of Finance Administration (DFA)
State Treasurer’s Office
Association of Counties
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House Bill 417 – Page
2
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 417 appropriates $5,000.0 from the general fund to the County Detention Facility
Reimbursement Fund, for expenditure in fiscal year 2009 and subsequent years, for the purposes
of the fund.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $5,000.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert
to the general fund.
NMCD states if the fund is adequately funded as of result of the proposed legislation, the bill
may have a minimal to moderate fiscal impact on the department. NMCD states an adequately
funded fund would essentially forever remove any liability or obligations of the department to
have to pay the counties for these ongoing, substantial incarceration costs.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The County Detention Facility Reimbursement Fund was created last year, and is to be
administered by the Local Government Division of the Department of Finance Administration.
Money in the fund is to be used for reimbursing counties for the incarceration of a “felony
offender." NMCD states a felony offender is defined as a person convicted of a felony and
sentenced to confinement in a facility designated by the New Mexico Corrections Department
who:
1.
Has been released from confinement and is a dual supervision offender (on both
probation and parole) and has violated his parole or is charged with a parole violation, or
has violated probation or is charged with a probation violation, or while on parole is
charged with a violation of local, state tribal, federal or international law;
2.
Has been released from confinement and is serving a parole term and has violated his/her
parole or is charged with a parole violation, or while on parole is charged with a violation
of local, state, tribal, federal or international law; or
3.
Is awaiting transport and commitment to the New Mexico Corrections Department
following the revocation of parole or a sentencing hearing for a felony conviction.
The distribution is based primarily on a formula developed by the New Mexico Sentencing
Commission (NMSC). The formula has an additional amount set aside for smaller counties with
demonstrated need. NMSC developed a methodology for distributing to counties based on the
ratio of a county’s eligible offenders and all eligible offenders. Thirty-thousand from the fund
goes to NMSC to maintain the data for the formula. NMSC provides the Local Government
Division a list of counties with the appropriate share of the distribution.
In the 2007 legislative session, a $5 million appropriation of recurring general fund dollars was
appropriated to the fund. NMCD states many counties appear to believe that $5 million is not
sufficient to cover the total annual cost of incarcerating felony offenders. NMCD notes that at
least one county, Bernalillo County, is hesitating to go through the fund, and instead is seeking
payment directly from the Corrections Department for at least some of these costs.
pg_0003
House Bill 417 – Page
3
NMCD reports that adding money to the fund is likely to ensure that all counties receive full
payment through the fund, and reduce the likelihood that the counties will instead try to directly
bill the department for these costs. NMCD notes the adding of more money to the fund would
make the department more comfortable with the possibility of having to relinquish the $1 million
it has been appropriated annually to pay counties for housing parole violators. NMCD states it
has wanted to keep this yearly appropriation in the event that the money in the fund is
insufficient to pay all the counties and if counties seek direct payment from the department for
the difference.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
NMCD states if the proposed legislation results in no counties seeking direct payment from the
department for these incarceration costs, then the department’s administrative burden will be
decreased by a minimal to moderate degree. When counties seek direct payment from the New
Mexico Corrections Department, the department must make sure that each offender housed in a
county jail is a parole violator or dual supervision violator, and verify that the offender was
actually in jail on the days the county claims. NMCD notes they have requested that all counties
go through the fund and not seek payment directly from the department; however, Bernalillo
County has been hesitant to comply with this request.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
House Bill 417 has a relationship to House Bill 410.
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