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Sentencing Commission asks for modest recurrence to cover contracted staff and crime-reduction grants
Summary
The Sentencing Commission urged the subcommittee to consider restoring $69,000 to "make whole" contracted staff pay and to increase funding for crime-reduction grants and data integration; the committee adopted the LFC recommendation but noted the $69,000 as an item for attention.
The New Mexico Sentencing Commission told the House Appropriations & Finance subcommittee that its LFC-recommended budget, which holds recurring funding roughly flat with FY26, leaves a shortfall relative to the executive recommendation aimed at addressing contracted staff compensation and recurring grant administration costs.
Scott Sanchez, the LFC analyst for the commission, summarized that the executive recommendation is approximately $43,000 higher than LFC to account for contractual compensation differences. Executive Director Douglas Carver said the commission seeks $69,000 in "making us whole" money to cover retroactive raises for staff who are contracted through the University of New Mexico fiscal agent arrangement.
"Every time there's a raise in the state budget, because we contract employees, they're not automatically incorporated into our budget," Carver said. "A raise for state employees, which we honor, is effectively a budget cut to our agency unless we are made whole." Carver emphasized the small size of the commission (six full-time FTEs) and the outsized effect that modest additions to staff funding would have on capacity.
Crime-reduction grants and research priorities
Carver and deputy director Keri Thiel outlined the commission's Crime Reduction Grant program, which funds a range of local initiatives from pretrial diversion and specialty courts to small-dollar grants for bus passes and hygiene support. Carver said the program has strong demand: last year the commission received about $8.5 million in requests while only having about $675,000 available for awards.
The commission also flagged a governor-requested $2 million, two-year data-integration initiative (New Mexico Data Exchange) that LFC did not fund. Carver said the commission's research team, which recently issued select-issue papers on topics such as drug trafficking and juvenile weapons, provides material that can inform legislation.
Committee action
Representative Sarnana moved to adopt the LFC recommendation with attention to the $69,000 compensation item; Representative Brown seconded and the motion passed without objection. Members asked the commission to circulate its research reports widely to legislative staff.
The subcommittee recorded the LFC recommendation as the committee—s position while reserving further attention to the modest "make-whole" item and to the commission's advocacy for greater grant funding.
