Outgoing Las Cruces councilor becomes Doña Ana undersheriff
Tessa Abeyta, an outgoing Las Cruces city councilor and public health advocate, will become undersheriff of Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office later this month.
The undersheriff is one of two employees DASO Sherriff Kim Stewart can appoint. A police officer traditionally holds the undersheriff role, which operates as a backup sheriff or right hand to the sheriff.
But Stewart said during a news conference Tuesday that Abeyta's role in DASO would be novel.
"DASO needs an undersheriff. But one who's looking out," Stewart said.
According to Stewart, Abeyta will act as a lobbyist for DASO and liaison to other governmental entities. She'll also be responsible for some internal communication and organizational efforts.
Stewart said Abeyta – who is not a sworn officer and never has been – will not oversee deputy operations.
"I believe that uniforms (sworn officers) should run daily operations. I'm pretty old school about that, and I don't think that will change," Stewart said.
During her five years in office, Stewart had one other undersheriff.
When first elected in 2018, Stewart appointed long-time police officer Jaime Quezada. Stewart eliminated the position in 2020, calling it "antiquated."
At the time, Quezada had a $86,683 per year salary. It's unclear what Abeyta's salary will be.
Abeyta's background
Abeyta's background consists of government service and lobbying. According to New Mexico State University, Abeyta graduated with a bachelor's in political science in December 2009.
More recently, Abeyta was a registered lobbyist for the 2019 New Mexico Legislative Session. She advocated for public health policy for the New Mexico Public Health Association. In 2022, Abeyta became the executive director of the same organization. She's since stepped down to become DASO's undersheriff. According to the Secretary of State, Abeyta remains a registered lobbyist in New Mexico.
Abeyta became a Las Cruces Councilor in November 2019. In 2023, Abeyta narrowly lost an election to keep her seat on the Las Cruces council.
"I think the city council of the city of Las Cruces lost a valuable district representative and counselor, but I think it's our win," Stewart said.
Stewart and Abeyta said there would be some overlap between Abeyta's outgoing position on the Las Cruces council and her new job as undersheriff.
A new person for a new role
A review of other undersheriffs in New Mexico found they had law enforcement careers before becoming undersheriffs. When asked what criteria Stewart would use to determine if the experiment was successful, Stewart said she had none.
"I tell my staff, I've said it 1,000 times, let's date an idea, not marry it. The government loves to marry an idea and go sink to the bottom of the swimming pool on a bad idea. We don't do that here. What we do is we try things," Stewart said.
Abeyta's appointment will not bring DASO any additional cost. The position of undersheriff must be funded according to state law. Stewart also said that the DASO's rank-and-file were informed of the decision on Dec. 12 and that she believes they are supportive.
"And we're all about being, to overuse the phrase, thinking outside the box," Stewart said.
Justin Garcia is a reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at JEGarcia@LCSun-News.com.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Outgoing Las Cruces councilor becomes Doña Ana undersheriff
