Gallup district attorney files Supreme Court challenge over defunding of office

SANTA FE — New Mexico’s highest court is being asked to intervene in a simmering dispute over the defunding of the McKinley County District Attorney’s Office.

District Attorney Bernadine Martin filed a Supreme Court petition this week, arguing the Legislature and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham violated the state Constitution’s separation of powers provision by stripping state funds for her office out of a $10.8 billion budget bill.

“The legislative and executive branches have no discretion to withhold essential government services in a manner that violates equal protection or due process rights,” Martin wrote in her petition.

Martin declined further comment on Wednesday due to the litigation, but said in her petition the elimination of funds to her office, if allowed to happen, would effectively nullify her authority as an elected official.

The unusual showdown — and the filing of the Supreme Court petition — comes just two weeks before July 1, when the new state budget bill is set to take effect.

Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Wednesday he had not yet reviewed the petition but described defunding Martin’s office as a last resort.

Specifically, he said the action was the only way in his power to ensure criminal cases move forward, citing large numbers of dismissals in recent years.

“If the district attorney doesn’t want to do her job and prosecute cases, you have a broken justice system,” Muñoz told the Journal.

He previously said he was approached by judges, other prosecutors and Chief Public Defender Ben Baur about an alarmingly low number of prosecutions in McKinley County and Martin’s management of the District Attorney’s Office.

The District Attorney’s Office in Gallup has had by far the state’s highest average caseload for attorneys in recent years, due to chronic staffing issues. As of last fall, the office had 2,822 assigned cases per attorney, according to Legislative Finance Committee data.

While this year’s budget bill initially included funding for Martin’s office, it was amended in the Senate Finance Committee. The final version earmarked $1.9 million for the district attorney in neighboring San Juan County to prosecute cases in McKinley County.

The annual spending bill also provides additional funding for contract attorneys to be hired in the district. While some legislators expressed concern about the changes, the amended bill ultimately passed both the Senate and House before being signed by Lujan Grisham in April.

In her petition, Martin said she approached San Juan County District Attorney Jack Fortner about signing an interagency agreement that would allow her to continue paying staffers and contract attorneys in her office.

But she said that proposal was rebuffed, setting the stage for possible employee furloughs.

In addition to Muñoz and the governor, the petition filed by Martin also lists Fortner and several other elected officials and legislators as respondents. That list includes Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, and House Appropriations and Finance Committee Chairman Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces.

Though rare, it’s not unprecedented for New Mexico government offices to be defunded. For example, the Commission on the Status of Women was defunded and essentially dismantled in 2011 by targeted line-item vetoes from then-Gov. Susana Martinez, but the commission was later revived.

The Supreme Court had not yet filed any official response to the petition as of Wednesday, but it’s likely the case would be fast-tracked if the court decides to hear it due to timing issues at play.