New Mexico Register / Volume XXXV,
Issue 18 / September 24, 2024
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
ON PROPOSED NEW PERMANENT RULE
Public Notice. The New Mexico Department of Public Safety [“DPS”]
gives notice that it will hold a public hearing at DPS’s Law Enforcement
Academy, Room 6A, at 4491 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87507, and via Microsoft
Teams, on Tuesday, October 24, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. on the proposed, permanent amendment
to 10.2.4 NMAC LAW ENFORCEMENT RETENTION FUND REPORTING, MONITORING AND
ADMINISTRATION. The members of the
public may attend at DPS or via Microsoft Teams on a computer, mobile device,
or telephone. The videoconference’s Meeting ID and Password, videoconference
link, and telephone number are:
Join Microsoft Teams Meeting on your computer or
mobile app:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MWNlYTNkZjItZTA0Ny00NDU3LWE2ZmYtOGJmZjBhNDI0NDhl%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2204aa6bf4-d436-426f-bfa4-04b7a70e60ff%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2217a6903d-6f2d-46e4-9eca-7ae69c4b998b%22%7d
Or call in (audio only)
+1 (505) 312-4308
Phone Conference ID: 441 511 56#
Purpose of the proposed
permanent rule. The purpose of this public hearing is to receive
public comment and input on a proposal to make permanent the emergency rule
amendments made to 10.2.4 NMAC Law Enforcement Retention Fund Reporting,
Monitoring and Administration. This
rule sets forth procedures : 1) for law enforcement agencies to follow in reporting (or requesting a waiver of the requirement to
report) law enforcement officer retention information to DPS in order to obtain
monies from the Law Enforcement Retention Fund [“LERF”] to provide retention
differential disbursements to eligible officers; 2) that DPS will follow in calculating,
disbursing and, in the event of a shortfall in monies in the LERF, reducing the
amount of money disbursed to law enforcement agencies for retention
differential disbursements for eligible law enforcement officers; and 3) for
law enforcement agencies to follow in returning unused monies to the DPS or in appealing
DPS’s calculation of the retention differential disbursement DPS intends to
distribute to the requesting law enforcement agencies.
Legal authority
authorizing the proposed permanent rule. The
proposed permanent rule is promulgated pursuant to Subsection G of Section
29-11A-5, NMSA 1978 and Paragraph (3) of Subsection H of Section 9-19-4, NMSA
1978.
Summary of the full
text of the proposed permanent rule. The proposed permanent rule defines the
officers eligible to receive retention differential disbursements from the LERF
as those officers who remain employed with the same law enforcement agency “one
year and one day after reaching four, nine, 14, 19, or 20 or more years of
service” with that agency. Additionally,
the rule defined “certified” as “an individual certified as a peace officer
pursuant to the Law Enforcement Training Act, Section 29-7-1 to 29-7-16 NMSA
1978.” “Eligible law enforcement agency”
means an agency eligible to receive monies from the LERF because the agency:
(1) has, prior to June 1 of the reporting fiscal year, made a request for
monies from the DPS and included in that request the information on which the
agency is required to report under Section 9-19-14 H and this rule; (2) is, at
the time of submitting the request for monies to DPS in compliance with that
portion of the Law Enforcement Training Act that requires every law enforcement
agency to submit a quarterly report to the director of the law enforcement
academy and the New Mexico law enforcement standards and training council; and
(3) has, at the time of submitting the request for monies to DPS, submitted the
agency’s most current roster of full-time certified law enforcement officers,
including commission dates, to the New Mexico law enforcement academy. The proposed permanent rule also adds to the
“Law Enforcement Academy” definition to include “standards and training council,
its predecessors, or successors.” The
proposed permanent rule also adds to the “Salary” and “Years of Service”
definitions the requirement that the eligible person be a “full-time,
certified” law enforcement officer. In
the Reporting Requirements section of the rule, the proposed permanent rule
adds the following: “In order to receive funding for retention differential
disbursements, the law enforcement agency must, at the time of the request, be
in compliance with the in-service officer training and reporting requirements
of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Training Act set forth in Section 29-7-7.1
and Subsection E of Section 29-7-7.2 NMSA 1978. In order to receive
funding for retention differential disbursements, the law enforcement agency
must have submitted the agency’s most current roster of full-time certified law
enforcement officers, including commission dates, to the New Mexico law
enforcement academy no later than April 1 of the reporting fiscal year. The
rule sets forth the information the law enforcement agency must report to DPS in order to receive
monies from the LERF for retention differential disbursements and
requires the agency to submit the required information no later than May 31. Assuming sufficient funds are available in the
LERF to satisfy all requests, the DPS will calculate and disburse to the
requesting law enforcement agency an amount equal to five per cent of the
officer’s salary on the date the officer completed four, nine, 14, 19, or 20 or
more years of service with the requesting law enforcement agency, together with
an amount equal to the employer’s tax liability for the disbursement. DPS will disburse the LERF monies to the law
enforcement agencies on December 15 of the fiscal year in which the officers
are projected to be eligible for the same. The law enforcement agency in receipt of
disbursed funds will place them in an interest bearing account and disburse the
monies no sooner than the date the officer attains eligibility and no later
than 30 days following the date of eligibility or the date the law enforcement
agency receives the disbursement from DPS, whichever occurs last. The law enforcement agency disbursing funds
is required to report the date of disbursement and the date of payment of the
employer taxes on the DPS portal. Within
60 days after the end of the fiscal year in which monies from the LERF are
disbursed by DPS to a law enforcement agency for retention differential
disbursements and no later than August 31, any law enforcement agency which has
not disbursed all monies provided, shall return the same to the DPS, together
with any interest earned on the funds, in the form of a check. The law enforcement agency shall also report
to the DPS the names of those officers who received a retention differential
disbursement, the names of those officer who were projected to, but who did not
receive a retention differential disbursement, the amounts returned, broken
down by retention differential disbursement, employer tax and interest earned,
and the reason any retention differential disbursement was not made. In the event that
there are insufficient monies in the LERF to fully fund all the retention
differential disbursement requests, the DPS will reduce the amount to be
disbursed to each law enforcement agency on a pro rata basis to an amount
permitted by the monies available in the LERF.
The rule also sets forth a process by which a law enforcement agency may
seek reconsideration and review of the DPS calculation of each retention
differential disbursement and the employer taxes thereon.
Copies of the Rule. Copies
of the rule may be obtained at all DPS district, field, ports of entry, and
regional offices, at the DPS website at https://www.dps.nm.gov/public-information/rule-making/
on the sunshine portal at Login | Salesforce or https://statenm.my.salesforce.com/?ec=302&startURL=%2Fhome%2Fhome.jsp,
or by contacting Matthew Chavez, Chief Legal Counsel, at 505.467.9629 or matthew.chavez@dps.nm.gov.
Comment on the rule. Interested
persons may comment on the proposed permanent rule, at the hearing or by
submitting written statements to DPS Jennifer Morfin, Office of Legal Affairs
Law Clerk at 4491 Cerrillos Rd., P.O. Box 1628, 87504-1628, or by e-mail at jennifer.morfin@dps.nm.gov.
All mailed or emailed statements must be
received by October 24, 2024. Early
submission of written statements is encouraged.
Interested persons may also comment in writing at the public hearing.
Permanent rule. The proposed
rule amendments will be a permanent.
Reasonable
Accommodation. Individuals with disabilities who need any form of
auxiliary aid to attend or participate in the public hearing, including a
reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter or any form of auxiliary
aid or service are asked to contact Jennifer Morfin by telephone at 505.548.0950
or by e-mail at jennifer.morfin@dps.nm.gov as soon as possible and no
later than October 15, 2024. DPS
requires at least ten calendar days advance notice to provide special
accommodations.