A. Except as provided for the academy in Subsection B of this section, amounts distributed from the fund shall be expended only for the following:

(1) the repair and purchase of law enforcement apparatus and equipment, including the financing and refinancing thereof, that meet minimum nationally recognized standards;

(2) the purchase of law enforcement equipment, including protective vests, for police dogs;

(3) expenses associated with advanced law enforcement planning and training;

(4) maintaining the balance of the peace officers', New Mexico mounted patrol members' and reserve police officers' survivors fund at a minimum amount of three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($350,000);

(5) complying with match or contribution requirements for the receipt of federal funds relating to criminal justice programs;

(6) no more than fifty percent of the replacement salaries of municipal and county law enforcement personnel of municipalities or counties rated as class 1 in Paragraph (1) of Subsection C of Section 29-13-4 NMSA 1978 participating in basic law enforcement training; and

(7) contingent upon the availability of funding and until June 30, 2021, a law enforcement officer retention payment in the amount of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500); provided that:

(a) the distribution is requested by a municipality or county law enforcement agency that on January 1, 2018 had a staffing vacancy rate of at least ten percent to retain a law enforcement officer who is certified in accordance with the Law Enforcement Training Act [Chapter 29, Article 7 NMSA 1978] and has at least twenty years of actual service credit earned under a municipal police member coverage plan as determined by the public employees retirement association;

(b) the municipality or county law enforcement agency provides seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) in matching funds to the law enforcement officer; and

(c) the distribution and the matching funds paid to a law enforcement officer shall not constitute the officer's base salary or wages and shall not be considered to be salary or otherwise be used to determine a pension for the purposes of the Public Employees Retirement Act [Chapter 10, Article 11 NMSA 1978].

B. For the academy, amounts distributed from the fund shall be expended only for providing tourniquet and trauma kits and training on the use of tourniquet and trauma kits pursuant to Section 29-7-7.7 NMSA 1978.

C. Amounts distributed from the fund shall be expended only pursuant to approved budgets and upon duly executed vouchers approved as required by law.

History: Laws 1983, ch. 289, § 7; 1985, ch. 29, § 2; 1988, ch. 96, § 4; 1993, ch. 179, § 9; 1994, ch. 53, § 2; 2002, ch. 78, § 7; 2013, ch. 10, § 1; 2017, ch. 35, § 5; 2018, ch. 74, § 3.

The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, authorized distributions from the law enforcement protection fund for law enforcement retention payments, and added a statutory reference; added Paragraph A(7); and in Subsection B, after "pursuant to Section", deleted "1 of this 2017 act" and added "29-7-7.7".

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, made provisions for the New Mexico law enforcement academy to receive funds from the law enforcement protection fund for tourniquet and trauma kit training; in Subsection A, added "Except as provided for the academy in Subsection B of this section", in Paragraph A(4), added "New Mexico mounted patrol members' and reserve police officers'", and in Paragraph A(6), after "Subsection", deleted "B" and added "C"; and added a new Subsection B, and redesignated former Subsection B as Subsection C.

The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, authorized the purchase of protective equipment for police dogs and in Subsection A, added Paragraph (2).

The 2002 amendment, effective May 15, 2002, in Subsection A, added Paragraph (3) and redesignated former Paragraphs (3) and (4) as Paragraphs (4) and (5).

The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, inserted "including the financing and refinancing thereof" in Paragraph A(1).

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, deleted "law enforcement protection" preceding "fund" in Subsections A and B and substituted "that" for "which" in Paragraph (1) of Subsection A.