Editorial: High Cost of Probation

Twenty-five-year-old Landis Litz has spent more than 900 nights of her 86-proof life in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center. That adds up to a $46,800-plus tab ($52 a day) for county taxpayers.

So, because Litz has a proclivity for getting drunk and driving — on one occasion stealing a car and trying to run over the owner — she has what amounts to a permanent, publicly funded cot at MDC.

Four years after Litz was found guilty of aggravated assault, DWI and auto theft, there is no end in sight to this pouring of public money down a liquored-up rat hole. The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office will recommend time in prison when she goes to court this month on another probation violation.

It would be at least her 13th violation. But who’s counting? Taxpayers, voters and anyone who wants Litz to be a productive member of society should be.

Because Litz has gone before at least 10 judges for probation violations and other charges since 2009. And while nearly all her crimes involve alcohol, she has always caught a break that has kept her out of prison.

Probation officer Sharon Meredith Tafoya says the short stays at MDC don’t provide enough time to evaluate alcohol problems and potential mental health issues, as a prison stay might. DA Kari Brandenburg says her office has asked for prison time, yet judges order suspended sentences and referrals to probation programs. We know how that’s working.

Litz has been in MDC since April 20, charged with her second DWI, concealing identity and reckless driving. And while judges have been unwilling to talk about her repeated jail stays because her case is open, they can certainly listen.

To taxpayers who pay Litz’s jail bill. To voters who elected them to administer the law. To sober drivers who would like to get Litz off the street. And to those who would like to help Litz clean up for the long haul.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.