Adrian Hedden
El Rito Media

Crime and mental health took center stage as New Mexico lawmakers convened Jan. 21 in Santa Fe, with several bills already introduced in the opening days of the 60-day legislative session.

In the months leading up to the session, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham unveiled a series of policy priorities related to crime and public safety throughout the state. The topic was positioned to be Lujan Grisham’s signature issue during the last two years of her final term as governor.

To that end, the governor hosted town meetings in Las Cruces, Albuquerque, Espanola and Alamogordo, along with several listening sessions in rural areas such as Carlsbad, Farmington and Clovis.

During her Jan. 8 town hall meeting at the Tays Center in Alamogordo, Lujan Grisham said she was targeting stronger penalties for criminals possessing guns while committing crimes and also looking to strengthen the state’s ability to force defendants into treatment if they are deemed incompetent to stand trial.

So far, the push for public safety reform appears to be working with bills designed to tackle criminal penalties and behavioral health reforms emerging in both the House and Senate.

Here are some of the key public safety bills and initiatives to watch during this year’s legislative session.

Criminal competency

House Bill 4, sponsored by Rep. Christine Chandler (D-43) of Los Alamos, would require that a report from a psychiatric professional regarding a defendant’s mental competency to stand trial also include an opinion as to whether such a defendant qualifies for involuntary commitment to a psychiatric facility.

The bill was referred to the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee for its first hearing.

Fentanyl exposure as child abuse

Sponsored by Rep. Andrea Reeb (R-64), House Bill 136 would allow defendants to be charged with child abuse if they were believed responsible for exposing children to fentanyl. State law already allows the charge to be assessed for exposing children to methamphetamine use.

Abuse of a child not resulting in death is considered a third-degree felony for the first offense and a second-degree felony for second and subsequent offenses. Abuse resulting in death is a first-degree felony.

HB 136 was yet to be assigned to a committee.

Behavioral health planning

Senate Bill 3 would require the Administrative Office of the Courts to divide the state into behavioral health regions, seek public input from those regions and develop regional plans to address behavioral health issues in each of them.

SB 3 was sponsored by Sens. Peter Wirth (D-25), Mimi Steward (D-17) and William Sharer (R-1), and assigned to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee.

Regional plans will be made up of four phases with no more than five state-funded priorities per phase, identify local resources and include timelines to develop services and plans to obtain federal funding.

The bill also would require the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance to provide a set of standards for behavioral health services included in the regional plans, task the Legislative Finance Committee with evaluating costs, and specify that any funds appropriated under the bill must be guided by the regional plans.

Public safety and justice system funds

Senate Bill 2 was sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators: Benny Shendo (D-22), George Munoz (D-4) and David Gallegos (R-41). The bill proposed several appropriations based on the regional plans required by SB 3, totaling more than $100 million for multiple state agencies for public safety and health care initiatives.

SB 2 was referred to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee and is awaiting a hearing.

Here are the agencies that will be funded by SB 2.

Administrative Office of the Courts: $8.7 million for grants to local districts to help with court case management and to map out regional needs across the state.

Health Care Authority: $60.5 million to offer grants for local communities to fund regional treatment facilities, both inpatient and outpatient.

Corrections Department: $1.3 million for grants to support services for inmates discharged from the prison system.

Department of Public Safety: $5 million for local law enforcement grants to fund mobile crisis response, recovery and outreach equipment and vehicles. Another $11.5 million would be appropriated to Health Care Authority to staff vehicles and response teams.

University of New Mexico: $1 million for outreach to the homeless, including mobile health units, treatment and telemedicine. Another $1 million would go to the Department of Health to fund its outreach for the homeless.

Department of Finance and Administration: $48 million to create a program to expand housing service providers’ programs dealing with substance abuse, mental health treatment and transitional housing.