House Judiciary approves two public safety bills over the weekend
On Saturday, the New Mexico House Judiciary Committee passed two public safety bills forward in advance of additional proposals in the queue for later this week.
House Bill 31 would more severely punish the crime of threatening to shoot people by increasing the attached penalty from a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum possible jail sentence between six months and one year, to a fourth-degree felony, which comes with 18 months in prison.
Three years ago, Senate Bill 34 similarly called for this crime to be punished as a fourth-degree felony, but it was amended down to a misdemeanor and included in the omnibus crime package signed into law.
House Bill 50 would group together the sentences for four different crimes related to stealing motor vehicles. State law already requires longer prison terms if someone commits one of these crimes on multiple occasions, but HB50 would make subsequent convictions carry greater sentences for having violated any of the four statutes.
'In other words, a first time violator of the one statute would be considered a repeat offender of the larger statutory scheme if they have a prior conviction for a different Article 16D offense,' the Law Offices of the Public Defender explained in its analysis of the bill. 'This may lead to further litigation since an accused person may challenge the legality of an enhanced punishment for 'repeating' conduct they have not actually repeated.'
The committee has heard two other bills that lawmakers intend to include in the crime package. The committee is expected to vote on the package on Wednesday.
House Bill 4 would give prosecutors more options to involuntarily commit people into a locked psychiatric facility if they are found to be dangerous and unable to stand trial. House Bill 38 would ban devices that can convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic ones.
The committee is scheduled to hold hearings on House Bill 16, which would increase sentences for trafficking fentanyl, and House Bill 86, which would remove the statute of limitations for prosecuting a human trafficking offense.
House Bill 12 is headed to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. It would create an alternative process for police officers to ask a judge for an Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order, if a reporting party isn't available or doesn't want to be involved.
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