The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee heard House Joint Resolution 9 Wednesday morning. The committee moved the legislation to the House Judiciary Committee with a Do Pass Without Recommendation.
The legislation proposes a constitutional amendment to allow bail denial conditions to be set by the Legislature. It would also remove the judicial requirement that bail decisions are only made by courts of record, removes the bail denial limitation for those charged with felonies, clarifies that bail may be denied if conditions of release would not “reasonably assure” the defendant’s court appearances and the legislation removes some court procedural directions.
HJR 9 updates language in the part that prevents defendants from being detained based on an inability to pay.
Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, Rep. William “Bill” R Rehm, R-Albuquerque, and Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park sponsored the legislation.
The Fiscal Impact Report shows that the legislation will have no fiscal impact for fiscal Year 2023 but will cost the Secretary of State’s Office up to $375,000 for printing costs.
If the amendment is passed, it will cost counties up to $44.573,000 in additional detention costs, for FY24 and up to $89,074,000 for FY25, according to the Fiscal Impact Report.
