The Chaves County Commissioners also voted last week to approve a list of their priorities for state lawmakers during the upcoming 2027 New Mexico Legislative session, which officially begins on Jan. 19. Resolution 26-048 was approved by the commissioners on Oct. 15 during their regular monthly meeting. At the top of this list is what are considered important items for allocations in House Bill 2, the state’s General Appropriation Act:
- Full funding of the County Detention Facility Reimbursement Act Fund to pay counties for the actual cost of housing state inmates. According to the New Mexico Sentencing Commission, the five-year average cost to house New Mexico Corrections Department inmates is $9.38 million. Only $4.7 million was appropriated in 2025.
- Ensure funding for the monthly operational costs of 700 MHz radios to build out the state’s interconnectivity infrastructure. The current allocation cycle could end on June 30, 2027.
- Support an appropriation to offset operational revenue losses in counties that reach the mill rate cap as a direct result of veterans’ exemptions enacted by the legislature.
- Other concerns the commissioners have that also concur with those of the New Mexico Association of Counties touch on three other areas. These include amendments to both the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) and the New Mexico Civil Rights Act.
Changes sought for IPRA are a limit on abusive requests, protection of crime victims and juveniles, and securing critical infrastructure. Revisions to the Civil Rights Act would “preserve accountability while addressing the unsustainable escalation in cost,” the county’s resolution states.
Another topic seeks rewrites to the state statute’s provisions about Emergency Medical Services to “recognize emergency medical service providers, both career and volunteer, as delivering essential services and an integral part of the state’s health-care infrastructure.”
