A. Every municipality shall enact an ordinance requiring assessment of corrections fees, judicial education fees and court automation fees to be collected as court costs and used as provided in this section.

B. A municipal judge shall collect the following costs:

(1) a corrections fee of twenty dollars ($20.00);

(2) a judicial education fee of three dollars ($3.00); and

(3) a court automation fee of six dollars ($6.00).

C. The fees are to be collected upon conviction from persons convicted of violating any ordinance relating to the operation of a motor vehicle or any ordinance that may be enforced by the imposition of a term of imprisonment.

D. All money collected pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection B of this section shall be deposited in a special fund in the municipal treasury and shall be used for:

(1) municipal jailer or juvenile detention officer training;

(2) the construction planning, construction, operation and maintenance of a municipal jail or juvenile detention facility;

(3) paying the cost of housing municipal prisoners in a county jail or detention facility or housing juveniles in a detention facility;

(4) complying with match or contribution requirements for the receipt of federal funds relating to jails or juvenile detention facilities;

(5) providing inpatient treatment or other substance abuse programs in conjunction with or as an alternative to jail sentencing;

(6) defraying the cost of transporting prisoners to jails or juveniles to juvenile detention facilities; or

(7) providing electronic monitoring systems.

E. If a municipality with a population less than ten thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census has a balance in its special fund pursuant to Subsection D of this section that is over the amount projected to be needed for the next fiscal year for the purposes set forth in that subsection, the municipality may transfer the unneeded balance to the municipality's general fund.

F. A municipality may credit the interest collected from fees deposited in the special fund pursuant to Subsection D of this section to the municipality's general fund.

G. All money collected pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subsection B of this section shall be remitted monthly to the state treasurer for credit to the judicial education fund and shall be used for the education and training, including production of bench books and other written materials, of municipal judges and other municipal court employees.

H. All money collected pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection B of this section shall be remitted monthly to the state treasurer for credit to the municipal court automation fund and shall be used for the purchase, maintenance and operation of court automation systems in the municipal courts. Operation includes staff expenses, temporary or otherwise, and costs as needed to comply with Section 35-14-12 NMSA 1978. The court automation systems shall have the capability of providing, on a timely basis, electronic records in a format specified by the judicial information systems council.

I. As used in this section, "convicted" means the defendant has been found guilty of a criminal charge by a municipal judge, either after trial, a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere.

History: 1978 Comp., § 35-14-11, enacted by Laws 1983, ch. 134, § 6; 1987, ch. 251, § 3; 1988, ch. 121, § 4; 1989, ch. 133, § 1; 1993, ch. 273, § 5; 1994, ch. 69, § 1; 1998, ch. 103, § 1; 2003, ch. 424, § 3; 2006, ch. 28, § 2; 2009, ch. 245, § 4; 2013, ch. 192, § 1; 2015, ch. 87, § 1.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 2001, ch. 102, § 2, effective June 15, 2001, repealed Laws 1994, ch. 69, § 2, which would have repealed Section 35-14-11 NMSA 1978 and enacted a new section, effective July 1, 2001.

Cross references. — For municipal court automation fund, see 34-9-12 NMSA 1978.

For payment of costs of any court ordered screening and treatment program by person convicted of driving under the influence, see 66-8-102 NMSA 1978.

For funding of local government corrections fund by penalty assessment fees, see 66-8-119 NMSA 1978.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, provided for municipalities with a population of less than ten thousand to transfer balances from certain municipal court fees to the municipality's general fund; and in Subsection E, after "population less than", deleted "three" and added "ten".

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, provided for the use of municipal court corrections fees for general fund purposes; and added Subsection E.

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, in Paragraph (1) of Subsection C, changed the fee from $2.00 to $3.00.

The 2006 amendment, effective May 17, 2006, provides in Subsection G that the municipal court automation fund may be used to operate a court automation system and that operation includes staff expenses and costs as needed to comply with 35-14-12 NMSA 1978.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, moved the definition of "convicted" from the beginning of Subsection B to Subsection H; increased the fees in Paragraphs B(1) and B(2); added Paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) in Subsection D; added Subsection E, and redesignated the remaining subsections accordingly.

The 1998 amendment, effective July 1, 1998, substituted "six dollars ($6.00)" for "three dollars ($3.00)" in Paragraph B(3).

The 1994 amendment, effective July 1, 1994, inserted "and court automation fees" in Subsection A, inserted Paragraph B(3), made related stylistic changes in Subsections A and B, and inserted Subsection F.

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, inserted "and judicial education fees" in Subsection A; rewrote the former second sentence of Subsection B as the present second sentence of that subsection, with Paragraphs (1) and (2), and Subsection C; redesignated former Subsection C as present Subsection D; inserted "Paragraph (1) of Subsection B" near the beginning and substituted "facilities" for "facility" at the end, in Subsection D; and added Subsection E.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, made minor stylistic changes throughout the section; and in Subsection C deleted "solely" following "used", and inserted "or juvenile detention officer", "or juvenile detention facility", and "or housing juveniles in a detention facility".

The 1988 amendment, effective March 8, 1988, added the first sentence of Subsection B.

The 1987 amendment, effective June 19, 1987, added all of the language following "vehicle" and preceding the fee amount in Subsection B; in Subsection C, substituted "municipal jailer training, the construction planning, construction, operation and maintenance of a municipal jail" for "the purpose of constructing, operating and maintaining a municipal jail or", and added all of the language beginning with "or complying."