Raúl Torrez will remain Bernalillo County's DA until successor named

Dec. 31—A sluggish process of appointing Bernalillo County's next district attorney means that the current officeholder, Raúl Torrez, will continue to serve after he is sworn in Jan. 1 as the state's Attorney General, he told judges this week.

The outgoing 2nd Judicial District Attorney, Torrez sent the letter Tuesday to district court judges saying that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will interview hopefuls for the DA post "in early January."

"Based on the timing of the interviews to appoint my successor, there will be a gap in time between my resignation and the Governor's appointment" of a new DA, Torrez wrote.

In the meantime, Torrez said he plans to delegate "decision-making authority" to Deputy District Attorney Greer Staley, a veteran prosecutor in the DA's office. Staley has not applied to succeed her boss.

"She will be in charge of the office and will, in effect, act as the interim District Attorney until my successor has qualified for office," Torrez wrote.

Maddy Hayden, a spokeswoman for Lujan Grisham's office, said interviews with applicants for the DA's post are underway.

"The governor's office is currently conducting interviews for this position and will announce the appointment of the new district attorney as soon as possible, likely in early January," Hayden said in an email.

Torrez won election as attorney general in November and will be sworn in on Sunday as required by state law. Torrez said he intends to submit his resignation from the DA's office on Saturday.

Torrez addressed the letter to District Judges Marie Ward, chief judge, and Brett Loveless, presiding criminal court judge.

A spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District said the court appreciates Torrez alerting judges of his intentions but "cannot comment on any potential legality of DA Torrez's plans" under the Judicial Code of Conduct.

Torrez cited Article XX, Section 2, of the New Mexico Constitution, which requires that "every officer, unless removed, shall hold his office until his successor has duly qualified" for the post, even if the outgoing official has resigned.

"Fortunately, New Mexico law is carefully designed to avoid vacancies in office and to prevent a disruption in government operations from a succession in office," Torrez wrote.

Lujan Grisham must appoint someone to fill out the remaining two years of Torrez's term.

The Governor's Office began accepting applications Nov. 18 to fill the vacancy. The office received 10 applications by the due date of Dec. 2.

The Governor's Office announced Dec. 13 that it would accept additional applications and extended the deadline to Dec. 23. Four additional hopefuls applied by that date.

In all, 14 attorneys have applied for the DA post, including prominent defense attorney Sam Bregman and former U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez.

Applicants also include three current deputy prosecutors in the DA's office. They are: John Duran, deputy district attorney for the major crimes division; Diana Garcia, deputy district attorney in the juvenile division; and Joshua Boone, deputy district attorney for the metropolitan division.