2021 New Mexico Statutes
Article 2 - Delinquency
Section 32A-2-4 - Detention facilities; standards; reports; appeals.

A. The department shall promulgate updated standards for all detention facilities, including standards for site, design, construction, equipment, care, program, personnel and clinical services. The department shall certify as approved all detention facilities in the state meeting the standards promulgated. The department may establish by rule appropriate procedures for provisional certification and the waiving of any of its standards for facilities in existence at the time of the adoption of the standards, except that it shall not allow waiver of any standard pertaining to adequate health and safety protection of the residents and staff of the facility. No child shall be detained in a detention facility unless it is certified as approved by the department, except as otherwise provided in Chapter 32A, Article 2 NMSA 1978.
B. The department shall inspect all detention facilities in the state at least once each twelve months and shall require those reports it deems necessary from detention facilities in a form and containing the information determined by the department. If as the result of an inspection a certified detention facility is determined as failing to meet the required standards, its certification is subject to revocation or refusal for renewal by the department.
C. The department shall promulgate rules establishing procedures that provide for prior notice and public hearings on detention facilities' standards adoption and changes. The department shall also promulgate rules establishing procedures for facility certification, renewal of certification, refusal to renew certification and revocation of certification. The procedures adopted on these matters shall provide for adequate prior notice of intended action by the department, opportunity for the aggrieved person to have an administrative hearing and written notification of the administrative decision. Rules promulgated under this subsection shall not be effective unless filed in accordance with the State Rules Act [Chapter 14, Article 4 NMSA 1978].
D. Any person aggrieved by an administrative decision of the department rendered under the provisions of this section may petition for the review of the administrative decision by appealing to the district court pursuant to the provisions of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978.
E. After January 1, 1994, no state or county detention facility shall hold juveniles sentenced by a federal court, unless the facility meets state standards promulgated by the department.
F. A juvenile detention facility certified by the department shall comply with the daily reporting requirement for children in detention, including reports on the length of stay for each child. This information shall be reported as required by the department.
History: 1978 Comp., § 32A-2-4, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 33; 1998, ch. 55, § 42; 1999, ch. 265, § 44; 2009, ch. 239, § 11.
The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, added Subsection F.
Applicability. — Laws 2009, ch. 239, § 71, provided that the provisions of this act apply to all children who, on July 1, 2009, are on release or are otherwise eligible to be placed on release as if the Juvenile Public Safety Advisory Board Act had been in effect at the time they were placed on release or became eligible to be released.
The 1999 amendment, effective July 1, 1999, substituted "Section 39-3-1.1" for "Section 12-8A-1" in Subsection D.
The 1998 amendment, effective September 1, 1998, in the section heading, inserted "; appeals"; in Subsection A, substituted "Chapter 32A, Article 2 NMSA 1978" for "this article"; in Subsection C, substituted "facilities'" for "facilities"; and rewrote Subsection D.
Decisions under prior law. — In light of the similarity of the provisions, annotations decided under former Section 32-1-6 NMSA 1978 have been included in the annotations to this section.
Legislative intent. — The provisions are clear - no child shall be detained in a detention facility unless it has met all standards and is certified as approved by the youth authority (now children, youth and families department). To be so certified and approved, a detention facility must provide detained children with complete sight and sound segregation from adult inmates. A waiver of these requirements by the child and his parents would not relieve the youth authority (now children, youth and families department) of its statutory duty to enforce its certification standards as required by law. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 90-16.
Child in need of supervision may not be held in jail. — A child alleged to be delinquent or in need of supervision, and the child's parents, cannot sign a waiver which would allow the child to be detained pending final adjudication in a local jail facility with total sight and only partial sound segregation from adult jail detainees. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 90-16.
Law reviews. — For survey, "Children's Court Practice in Delinquency and Need of Supervision Cases Under the New Rules," see 6 N.M.L. Rev. 331 (1976).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 47 Am. Jur. 2d Juvenile Courts and Delinquent and Dependent Children § 58 et seq.