NOTE:  As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended only for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature.  The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used for other purposes.

 

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

 

 

 

SPONSOR:

Rodriguez

 

DATE TYPED:

02/28/03

 

HB

 

 

SHORT TITLE:

Santa Fe County Teen Court

 

SB

782

 

 

ANALYST:

Hayes

 

APPROPRIATION

 

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY03

FY04

FY03

FY04

 

 

 

$55.0

 

 

Recurring*

General Fund

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

 

Duplicates HB 875

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

 

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

Department of Health (DOH)

 

SUMMARY

 

     Synopsis of Bill

 

Senate Bill 782 appropriates $55.0 from the general fund to the Local Government Division of the Department of Finance and Administration for the purpose of funding Santa Fe County’s teen court program.

 

     Significant Issues

 

  1. Teen court is a program designed for first-time teen offenders to keep their records clean.  A jury composed of local teens does not decide innocence or guilt of an offender, but assesses the sentence of the offender.  The offender must openly admit commission of a delinquent act in front of the teen jury.  If the offender admits to a delinquent act, accepts the “sentence” of the teen jury and successfully completes it, then the delinquent act is dismissed and the offender pays no fine.

 

  1. Teen courts exists in other jurisdictions around the state, but are often funded by either the county or municipality in which they operate.  It is questionable whether the State of New Mexico should be permanently funding teen court, although legislators acknowledge the merits of the program’s goals.  Start-up funding has been provided to districts or counties in the past, but the expectation is that counties, schools, volunteers, municipalities or other community-based organizations will provide continued support for teen court programs.

 

  1. According to DOH, there are currently 22 teen courts in operation around New Mexico.  Many of them have received funding from DFA’s DWI grant program (in addition to county and municipal funding).  The Santa Fe County teen should consider applying for funding from DFA’s DWI grant program to support it in lieu of the state’s general fund.

 

  1. It may be that local municipal courts are the most appropriate to fund and administer teen court programs since they mainly involve misdemeanor violations.

 

  1. Neither DFA nor AOC provided any information regarding teen court in their responses to the LFC.  Therefore, it is unclear whether the funding requested in this bill is a one-time request or if the state has been providing yearly funding to Santa Fe’s teen court through DFA’s Local Government Division.

 

  1. No performance data has been provided to the LFC regarding the number of teen court participants, rate of teens completing the program, if offenders commit additional delinquent acts, etc.; therefore, the level of success of teen court is unknown.

 

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The appropriation of $55.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.  Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2004 shall revert to the general fund.

 

DUPLICATION

 

HB 875 duplicates this legislation requesting funding for Santa Fe’s teen court.

 

CMH/ls