Sandoval County officials and community members gathered July 23 in Bernalillo for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Public Safety Building.
The facility is expected to enhance local law enforcement and emergency response capabilities.
The $12.2 million building is located on the Sandoval County complex at 7255 Oersted Road NE in Bernalillo. The building was funded by county, state, and federal contributions. The 19,240-square-foot facility features advanced technology, training facilities and an emergency operations center.
The Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office will use the building full time, and during emergencies, it will serve as the Emergency Operations Center hub for Emergency Management. Additionally, the Emergency Operations Center room will be used as a training center for the sheriff’s office and other agencies.
“This emergency operation center is the design of the future and we recognize that we have multiple jurisdictions to serve,” said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. “We need to create a one-stop, one-operations managed highly effective center to do just that. This is one of the first big ones, there are more coming in the state.”
According to Sandoval County Commission Chairman David Heil, the governor appropriated $5.1 million during the 2022 legislative session to help fund the public safety building. Additional funding came from the residents of Sandoval County, who provided $3.6 million through general obligation bonds. Federal funding, including contributions from the American Rescue Plan Act, also played a crucial role.
The facility includes an emergency operations center and a training facility equipped with advanced audio, video, and data communication capabilities. According to county officials, these features will enhance the county’s ability to communicate effectively during emergencies.
“I want to thank the public for a great job but I also want to thank the governor again for stepping up to help with the next step, the next phase in this process and that’s the funding of the expansion of the 13th Judicial District Magistrate Court, which is now in the design phase and should be under construction sometime in the near future,” Heil said.
He said the completion of the public safety building was the first phase of a set of priorities the County Commission identified in 2018.
One of the priorities was to relocate the sheriff’s office from the court building to a new facility. This move allowed the magistrate court to be transferred out of the detention center, freeing up space in the detention center to expand behavioral health and substance abuse services for inmates.
The Office of Emergency Management was located in the building where the new Sandoval County Regional Emergency Communications Center will be.
Sandoval County Sheriff Jesse James Casaus spoke at the ceremony, praising Lujan Grisham for her support. He said her assistance came at a crucial moment, when he says the Democratic Party has been advocating to defund the police and demonizing law enforcement.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that the state’s resources continue to be prioritized for local government,” Lujan Grisham said. “For the people who live in these communities, to make sure that you’re protected from floods and fires and other public safety risks and allow these communities to grow in the ways in which you deem the best for this county and the communities inside it and the people who live here.”