The Dona Ana County Board of County Commissioners reviewed a 2024 resolution that establishes hiring standards and an appeal process for public-safety positions, following appeals filed by the sheriff’s office and concerns about psychological testing and color-vision screening.

Assistant County Manager Steven Lopez said the board previously passed a resolution creating standards and an agency-appeal process after “complaints when I stepped into the interim county manager role, last March, March 2024, from the sheriff, the fire chief, and the detention center director regarding the application of hiring standards.” He told the board two batches of appeals came from Sheriff Stewart; none came from the fire department or detention center.

Lopez said the first batch involved seven applicants and an external psychologist helped the appeal committee clear five of the seven. “The committee ended up doing what the sheriff should have done on the form in identifying what are the deficiencies and can they be managed,” Lopez said. The second batch involved a color-vision question flagged on a State Law Enforcement Academy (LEA) form; HR could not locate a subject-matter expert and determined the LEA sets the standard on color vision.

Why it matters: the resolution was intended to preserve a merit-based hiring framework so county hiring is consistent across departments. Lopez told commissioners that appeals generally lacked the required detail explaining how an identified deficiency could be corrected, and he recommended the county fold the hiring standards into the new HR policy manual and move the appeal process inside HR, with stricter requirements for appeals that describe the deficiency and a remediation plan.

Commissioner Daniel Sanchez said he supported integrating the standards into the policy manual but asked when the board would see the final documents. “I have confirmation from ACM Weir and Meg Haines that we should be getting that final draft to the board to look at within the next month, so by the October,” Lopez replied.

Commissioner Ronald Reynolds emphasized timing as the central operational problem. “Timing is critical,” Reynolds said, noting psychological testing and academy start dates often are not coordinated and can delay whether a cadet proceeds to the academy. Reynolds suggested policies that require testing to be initiated ‘‘at least 60 days in advance’’ of an academy and that HR review results within a short, stated period.

Meg Haines, HR director, described the steps in the county’s preemployment process and reiterated that medical and psychological tests are performed only after a contingent offer is extended. “We do not conduct preemployment medical or psychological testing until a contingent offer is given to that candidate based on law,” Haines said. She also noted that, particularly for sheriff’s cadets, approval by the State Law Enforcement Academy is required before academy entry.

Several commissioners and staff agreed the department that hires should have primary input and HR should provide a final check to prevent negligent hires. Lopez noted prior appeals showed HR had attempted to work with departments and external experts when possible. The board did not adopt a new policy at the meeting; staff recommended drafting revised policy language that incorporates timelines and appeal requirements and returning it to the board for approval.

What’s next: staff said a draft policy manual will be provided to the board within about a month for review. The discussion also flagged potential statutory limits on board involvement in individual hiring decisions and noted the county manager is the ultimate arbiter in county hiring under state law.