Doña Ana County beefing up security at offices and public meetings

LAS CRUCES — Doña Ana County staff revealed during a work session last week that preparations are underway to beef up security at the county’s main government building as well as the County Commissioners’ chambers.

Probate Judge Judith Ann Baca told the commissioners she recently moved to have firearms prohibited from her chambers, business space and adjacent hallways, using the authority of her office.

Baca, who has served since 2023, said she has grown increasingly worried about workplace safety for herself and county staff, pointing to increased incidents involving members of the public exhibiting inappropriate, sometimes disoriented behavior that necessitated calls to security.

Early voting is underway for the Nov. 4 elections, including seats on the Las Cruces City Council and Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education.

“We’ve had some irate people who have raised their voices,” Baca said, reporting that constituents have even raised objections to decorations visible in employees’ cubicles at the probate and county clerk offices. “My clerks have had to deal with people from off the street who are incoherent, who aren’t making sense, and we aren’t sure what they’re there for.”

The Oct. 7 meeting followed an unusually contentious meeting of the commissioners in September, when they approved $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds and other incentives for Project Jupiter, a large data center complex planned for Santa Teresa.

Controversy over the project and the likelihood of protests during the meeting prompted county staff to temporarily install metal detectors at the entrance to the county government center and an enhanced security presence in the chambers.

Stricter rules about decorum during the Sept. 19 meeting were also in force. One individual was ejected for demonstrating as the session was getting underway, and opponents of the project began shouting at the commissioners and chanting when the IRB was approved on a 4-1 vote.

Baca said that meeting only enhanced her worries about safety at the government center, particularly if firearms are present.

“The way things are getting heated, even nationally, I’m concerned about that,” Baca told the commissioners. “I’ve wondered why we can’t have more security at the front entrance, and also to not allow weapons to come within the building.”

County Attorney Cari Neill said the county was not free to ban firearms from the government building outright, pointing to a 1986 amendment to the New Mexico Constitution stating, “No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.”

Neill suggested there was an unsettled question as to whether the county could regulate weapons on county property; but either way, she said, Baca, as an officer of the court, could make that decision for her own workspace, located on the ground floor, extending to the adjacent corridor and building entrance. She also had the authority to request the use of metal detectors, as for the Project Jupiter meeting.

Nonetheless, Baca presented her concerns to commissioners for their guidance.

In the ensuing discussion, County Manager Scott Andrews confirmed that plans were already underway to install a bulletproof barrier to the commissioners’ dais.

Commissioner Shannon Reynolds recommended that the county explore additional layers of security for public meetings, such as a law enforcement detail or regular use of metal detectors. Commissioner Manuel Sanchez, participating by phone, suggested looking into newer technologies that can detect weapons while maintaining “a more open atmosphere.”

When it comes to emergency response at the county offices, a peculiar wrinkle the commissioners acknowledged is that the building is under the jurisdiction of the Las Cruces Police Department even though the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office is located on the campus. Sheriff Kim Stewart confirmed to the Journal that LCPD would be the responding agency in the event of a security emergency.

The discussion unfolds as increased incidents of threats against public officials and disruptions at meetings nationwide have led some municipalities to move their proceedings to virtual platforms or cancel them outright.

According to the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, federal charges involving threats to public officials increased from an annual average of 38 from 2013 to 2016 to 62 between 2017 and 2022, with data indicating an increase in the years following.

The Brennan Center for Justice, reporting on national surveys and interviews gathered in 2023, estimated that over 40% of state legislators were attacked or threatened between 2021 and 2024, and more than 18% of local officeholders over an 18-month period.

In 2023 and 2024, respectively, former Doña Ana County District Attorney Gerald Byers and Las Cruces City Councilor Johana Bencomo were both targeted by death threats that led to criminal charges.

This summer, Solomon Peña of Albuquerque was sentenced to 80 years in federal prison for organizing shootings at the homes of state legislators and county officials after he was defeated in an election for a legislative seat.

“With what’s going on right now nationally, I think we need to take an abundance of caution,” Doña Ana County Commissioner Gloria Gameros said during the work session.