But Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana, tells the Las Cruces Sun-News she still thinks former Dona Ana County Sheriff Juan Hernandez is unfit to be named to New Mexico's Adult Parole Board.

Hernandez stepped down as sheriff at the end of 2004, two years before his term was up, saying at the time he had been diagnosed with a fatal brain disease called frontotemporal dementia which he said could impair his judgment, putting him, his officers and the public at risk, The Associated Press reported at the time.

Garcia apologized in a statement to the Sun-News Thursday for using the term "demented" during debate Wednesday after which Hernandez was confirmed by a two-thirds vote, the paper reported today on its Web site.

"I should have said `his dementia,'" said Garcia, who went on to tell the paper the "real issue" was that "almost one-third of the Senate stood with me in declaring Mr. Hernandez unfit to serve."

Hernandez already has served several months on the parole board after being named by Gov. Bill Richardson last year to fill a vacancy, the Sun-News reported.

The board, which was expanded last year from nine to 15 members, holds an average of 300 hearings a month, held at correctional facilities throughout the state, the paper reported.

Garcia's opposite number -- Senate Minority Whip Lee Rawson, a Las Cruces Republican, defended Hernandez on the Senate floor Wednesday and demanded an apology from Garcia, according to a Sun-News story on Thursday.

And Rawson wasn't mollified by Garcia's later statements, saying Hernandez "doesn't deserve that kind of treatment."

"The governor, as well as Juan, feel that he can do the job and that's what's important," Rawson told the Sun-News.

Rawson also has accused Garcia of engaging in a personal vendetta stemming from the 1999 arrest of her brother-in-law, former Mesilla Marshal Miguel "Mike" Gonzales and nephew Mike Gonzales Jr. in a racketeering case -- which Garcia vehementaly denied, according to the Sun-News.

Rawson also suggested that Garcia opposed Hernandez, who was elected sheriff as a Democrat but had recently become involved with the Republican Party, the Sun-News reported.

It was a Las Cruces Democrat, Sen. Mary Kay Papen, who sponsored Hernandez's nomination, who told the Sun-News she didn't have any problem with the former sheriff's appointment.

If there had been questions about Hernandez's fitness to serve, Papen told the paper, they should have come up before his nomination went to the Senate floor.

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