SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 41

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

Linda M. Lopez

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING A STUDY OF ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR ADJUDICATING TRAFFIC OFFENSES STATEWIDE.

     WHEREAS, in many jurisdictions throughout New Mexico, minor traffic warrants represent more than one-half of all outstanding warrants; and

     WHEREAS, experience in New Mexico and other states regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of continued criminal warrant notices for failure to appear and failure to pay minor traffic offenses has demonstrated that criminal warrants neither represent a deterrent to the habitual offender's disregard of traffic laws nor provide increased public safety on the highways; and

     WHEREAS, research data indicate that the ever-increasing number of traffic warrants is not reduced until violators are stopped on other moving violations or criminal charges; and

     WHEREAS, the burden placed on law enforcement statewide for serving traffic-related warrants is a heavy one and, by way of example, in Bernalillo county, there are currently in excess of thirty-seven thousand outstanding warrants for minor traffic violations; and

     WHEREAS, these violations include failure to pay fines and failure to appear in court; and

     WHEREAS, the burden placed on county detention facilities statewide is also substantial and, by way of example, in 2010, there were five thousand eight hundred sixty-eight bookings into the Dona Ana county adult detention center for traffic-related warrants and minor traffic violations, and in 2011, there were five thousand eight hundred seventy-four bookings; and

     WHEREAS, these burdens place a great strain on the court system, local law enforcement and detention centers; and

     WHEREAS, incarcerating individuals charged with minor traffic violations has a huge negative impact on families and on people's ability to continue to hold their jobs; and

     WHEREAS, removing criminal penalties, including the possibility of incarceration in jails, from traffic and driving violations and instead punishing these violations with civil sanctions may make better use of the resources dedicated to criminal justice without jeopardizing public safety and without increasing the incarcerated population; and

     WHEREAS, by decriminalizing certain minor traffic offenses and making them civil infractions, other states have substantially increased collection of traffic fines while reducing the costs to government and maintaining public safety;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the administrative office of the courts and the New Mexico association of counties be requested to convene a task force and conduct a statewide study to examine alternative adjudicative procedures for traffic offenses; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include representatives from the New Mexico district attorneys' association, the administrative office of the district attorneys, the public defender department, the New Mexico magistrate judges association, the New Mexico sentencing commission, the New Mexico sheriffs' and police association, the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department, the New Mexico municipal league and other relevant and interested parties; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force examine alternative procedures for adjudicating traffic offenses and decriminalizing certain minor traffic offenses; consider the feasibility of eliminating the motor vehicle division's involvement in the traffic citation, data entry and fine collection process and consolidating such processes with the courts; examine all practical aspects of implementing such changes; and propose legislation in accordance with any recommended changes; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the administrative office of the courts and the New Mexico association of counties present the findings and recommendations of the task force to the appropriate interim legislative committee by November 2012; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the administrative office of the courts, the New Mexico association of counties, the New Mexico district attorneys' association, the administrative office of the district attorneys, the public defender department, the New Mexico magistrate judges association, the New Mexico sentencing commission, the New Mexico sheriffs' and police association, the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department and the New Mexico municipal league.

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