New Mexico § 35-14-11 - Municipal ordinance; court costs; collection; purpose

§ 35-14-11. Municipal ordinance; court costs; collection; purpose

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.