Judiciary committee gives House Bill 8 a due‑pass recommendation after hours of amendments

Representative Chandler, the bill sponsor, told the Judiciary committee the measure before the panel is “a compilation … of about 6 bills” and summarized its parts as criminal competency reform, an increased penalty for certain shooting‑threat offenses, fentanyl trafficking enhancements, a misdemeanor blood‑draw warrant process for DWIs and a provision aimed at weapon conversion devices.

The committee heard coordinated proponents including JD Bullington of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and Commander Gerald Bartlett of the Albuquerque Police Department, who said they support the bill’s public‑safety provisions. “The chamber is especially encouraged to see changes made to the criminal competency piece included,” Bullington said. Commander Bartlett said the Albuquerque Police Department, and specifically its crisis intervention division, was “very encouraged” by the bill’s provisions affecting people in mental‑health crisis.

Disability Rights New Mexico and the New Mexico Nursing Association offered qualified support for parts of the competency reforms. Jim Jackson of Disability Rights New Mexico said community‑based competency restoration could “spare people the trauma” of transfer to the state forensic hospital, while Gloria Doherty of the New Mexico Nursing Association asked for technical fixes around who may complete evaluations in rural areas. A forensic psychologist who manages evaluator contracts warned that most of the state’s contract evaluators opposed the competency language as drafted, citing concerns about access to records, compensation for additional work and other operational burdens; she said those concerns had been shared with the sponsor.

Opponents included the New Mexico Business Coalition and the Public Safety Coalition. Larry Sontag of the New Mexico Business Coalition said the package “takes a weak approach to crime.” Monet Silva of the Public Safety Coalition said the group opposed “new crimes, increased punishment, and forced hospitalization” and urged strategies focused on services rather than incarceration.

On policy details, Representative Chandler and bill counsel Megan Dorsey explained that the competency reforms add an ‘‘expanded evaluation’’ intended to provide material useful in later civil commitment or assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) proceedings. The bill draws definitions and language from existing civil‑commitment and AOT statutes; Dorsey noted those definitions have developed case law and said the intent was to make evaluator reports usable in separate civil proceedings without changing the existing civil‑commitment standard itself.

Lawmakers debated multiple technical points and amendments. Notable changes adopted in committee include: - Deadlines for department responses and admissions tied to competency restoration were shortened in committee from 30 days to 7 days in the adopted amendment for commitments and from 14 days to 7 days for department certifications explaining a delay; the sponsor accepted that change as constructive. - Language clarifying where competency questions will be heard was amended so cases in courts other than district court will be transferred to district court unless the court is Metropolitan Court; that amendment was adopted after a roll‑call. - Language on timing of hearings was made more specific; the committee adopted a proposed replacement of “reasonable time” with a 90‑day deadline for hearings for evaluation reports involving non‑incarcerated defendants.

The bill also contains criminal‑law provisions: a new state offense aimed at conversion devices that turn semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic weapons (often called “Glock switches”), trafficking enhancements tied to fentanyl quantities (the bill uses both weight and pill‑count metrics), auto‑theft sentencing adjustments and a misdemeanor DWI blood‑draw warrant process that law enforcement requested to help prosecute drug‑impaired driving.

On the weapon conversion device provision, sponsors and law‑enforcement witnesses said the measure was narrowly drafted to criminalize devices that convert firearms to automatic fire; they said federal machine‑gun rules exist but state law was needed so local officers could pursue cases without relying on federal prosecutors.

The committee also debated fentanyl thresholds and sentencing. Law enforcement and the governor’s public‑safety adviser described the pill‑count metric as intended to capture illicit, pressed fentanyl pills that can be immediately lethal. Some senators expressed concern that pill counts could sweep in users rather than traffickers and pushed for weight‑based thresholds instead; the committee considered and rejected at least one amendment that would have eliminated the pill metric in favor of a grams‑only trigger.

After extended debate and a number of line‑by‑line amendments, the Judiciary committee voted to give the House Judiciary Committee substitute for House Bill 8 a due‑pass recommendation as amended. The motion to give the bill a due‑pass recommendation was moved on the floor of the committee by Senator Duhigg and carried in roll call. One senator (Senator Maestas) gave an explanation of vote urging caution about broad mandatory penalties while supporting the competency reforms.

Votes at a glance: The committee approved the bill with a due‑pass recommendation after multiple adopted amendments. A roll call on the final due‑pass motion recorded several senators voting both for and against the motion; committee discussion shows the package was amended on timing for hearings and admissions, modified on metropolitan/district court handling of competency questions, and had several criminal‑law drafting adjustments adopted in committee.

Why it matters: The bill repackages several criminal‑justice proposals the House advanced earlier into a single committee vehicle. The competency changes alter how accused people with potential mental‑health impairments are evaluated and create new avenues for community restoration and civil evidence. The fentanyl, firearms and blood‑draw provisions change criminal enforcement and sentencing tools available to prosecutors and police; those topics drew the most policy disagreement in committee.

The committee’s due‑pass recommendation sends the bill, as amended, forward in the legislative process; the measure will now advance to the next legislative step where the full Senate calendar and other committees will evaluate either the bill or additional amendments. The sponsor and committee members repeatedly noted this is an early step in a broader public‑safety agenda this session and that additional bills and amendments remain possible.