In wake of slain Las Cruces Police officer, Mayor Eric Enriquez prioritizes outreach court

As city leaders started the budget process for Fiscal Year 2025, the recent death of Las Cruces Police Department officer Jonah Hernandez was still top of mind.

Mayor Eric Enriquez and Mayor Pro Temp Johana Bencomo opened last week's two-day budget retreat by highlighting the need to add positions in the municipal court to help address an increasing number of individuals stuck in a cycle of violence with no way out of the court system and no access to services or treatment programs.

According to police, Armando Silva already had a long list of criminal citations and a history of mental illness when he stabbed Hernandez on Feb. 11.

"This plan is already in place, but it takes time to get resources aligned, time to get staffing," Enriquez said. "Due to the events that have taken place, I urge you all that it's something that has become urgent. We need to make it a safer place. We need to do this for the greater good of the community."

The City has sought to form an outreach court in the municipal court for some time. The election of Municipal Judge Anthony Filosa in November 2023 was a necessary step in that process; Filosa replaced Joy Goldblaum who stepped down from the seat.

Bencomo first suggested an outreach court last year, which would be modeled after the outreach court in Albuquerque's metro court. The municipal court handles violations of the city's municipal code, including petty misdemeanors and traffic citations. Two judges, one with authority over the other, oversee those cases.

Bencomo said the City is working with the City Clerk to revamp the hiring process for a municipal judge II that could include a hiring committee that Filosa would be involved with. According to the City charter, if needed, City Council may fill a vacancy by appointment of a municipal judge until the next regular election.

“Judge Filosa has so many good ideas and he's ready but just needs some time," said Bencomo, who believes an outreach court could be implemented sometime this year. "He's taking over a court that is really outdated."

What would an outreach court in Las Cruces look like?

According to Enriquez, the court is also seeking six clerks, a case worker, as well as a prosecutor and public defender – two positions that are currently outsourced and often require police officers to prosecute their cases rather than spending their time on the street or investigating cases.

"It's an urgency but we can't control a lot of the positions," Enriquez said. "We can't control getting a prosecutor. We have been trying to get staff in the legal department and it's not something we are seeing a lot of applicants (for). The public defender is also one that is going to take some time."

Ultimately, Bencomo said an effective outreach court would need community partners such as La Clinica de Familia, Amador Health Clinic and Community of Hope to help individuals address their outstanding legal obligations and reclaim their lives and return to the community.

"A judge, a prosecutor, a public defender and a case manager could be able to sit down and say, 'what does this person truly need to be able to leave (the court system)?'" Bencomo said.

Enriquez compared the need for an outreach court to the fire department’s implementation of a Mobile Integrated Health unit while he was a firefighter in Las Cruces.

Enriquez said people who did not have transportation for medical appointments and medication would eventually need emergency services. The mobile integrated health program would send a paramedic in an SUV instead of a fire truck and six firefighters.

"They were using 911 as their health system," Enriquez said. "All we could do was load them up, put them in an ambulance and go to the hospital and they would come out the next day.

"MIH was a proactive approach that would line them up with resources and medications."

Enriquez said the City will continue to advocate to the New Mexico Supreme Court to put a program in place that could grant the court system the ability to place individuals who are not competent to stand trial in treatment rather than release them with no treatment plan in place.

A legislative fix, Senate Bill 16, did not pass during the recent legislative session. It would have allowed the court to suspend the case while the defendant is diverted to a treatment program either by agreement of the parties or at the court's discretion.

In addition to Filosa, City Council and the Mayor, LCPD Chief Jeremy Story is on board with some version of an outreach court in Las Cruces.

At a recent town hall, hosted by the police department, with the topic of homelessness in Las Cruces, Story said 102 people in the past two years had been arrested or criminally charged at least 10 times, including one individual who had 77 citations over the past two years.

Story also mentioned an outreach court program at the Town Hall, where he said it could start as a condition of probation to engage in services rather than jail.

"It's not going to solve our problem, but right now we are seeing the same people arrested over and over with zero consequences," Story said. "It's not that there is just not jail. There is also not services provided for those who are not competent. So they are dismissed and then they commit the next crime.

"This would provide an opportunity to at least do something in the middle."

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: In wake of slain Las Cruces Police officer, Mayor Eric Enriquez prioritizes outreach court