House committee backs ballot measure to strengthen boards of regents oversight

The House Education Committee voted to give House Joint Resolution 12 a do-pass recommendation, advancing a proposed constitutional amendment that would clarify fiduciary duties for university boards of regents and place district courts, rather than the New Mexico Supreme Court, as the forum for removal actions.

The measure responds to recent state audit findings at Western New Mexico University and would, proponents say, strengthen accountability for public higher-education governance and protect taxpayer funds.

Representative Stefani Small, sponsor of HJR12, told the committee New Mexico has become "the number 2 state in the entire country for higher education student supports" and said the resolution "takes a big step on accountability for our higher education institutions to meet this moment." Sean Sullivan, special counsel with the New Mexico Department of Justice, described the resolution as clarifying regents' responsibilities and putting procedures in place "in the event that they do not uphold those responsibilities." He cited findings by the Office of the State Auditor involving former Western New Mexico University president Joseph Sheppard, including "$214,000 in spending over 400 instances of domestic and international travel" and a separation agreement that paid Sheppard about $1,900,000 and provided a $200,000-per-year tenured teaching position after his resignation.

The resolution would explicitly state fiduciary duties such as duty of undivided loyalty, due care and good faith, and would make removal actions appearable in district court so that witnesses and rules of evidence may be applied. Sullivan said moving jurisdiction to district courts is intended to ensure procedural due process is realized rather than handled as a record-based appellate review. The text also would retain a catch-all for "other duties" so statutory duties imposed by the legislature (for example under chapter 21) are enforceable even if not enumerated in the constitution.

Public testimony at the hearing included support from John Dertrude of AFT New Mexico, who called the resolution a "transparency" and "good governance" measure, and John Lipchutz of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, who urged support on behalf of workers across the state. One opponent, Jake Smith of the Governor Change Project (Sandoval County), said the measure could "intimidate our regents" without stronger protections to ensure investigations are handled properly and raised concerns about favoritism at certain universities.

Committee members asked for clarification about who may file removal actions and what due process would look like. Sullivan said a removal petition could be filed in district court by the attorney general or by a majority of other regents and that the district-court forum was intended to permit testimony and evidentiary hearings. He confirmed the resolution would apply to the University of New Mexico and other constitutionally enumerated institutions; earlier confusion in the fiscal information report was described as a misreading of Article XII, Section 13.

The committee motion to report HJR12 with a due-pass recommendation was made by Representative Garrett and seconded by Representative Mira Amoyah. The chair announced that HJR12 received a do-pass recommendation from the committee.

If approved by the Legislature, the joint resolution would go to a statewide ballot and, if adopted by voters, would amend Article XII, Section 13 of the New Mexico Constitution to add the enumerated fiduciary duties and procedural provisions described in committee testimony.