New Mexico special legislative session to focus on public safety initiatives

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s Democratic governor on Wednesday announced a mid-summer special legislative session on public safety that may delve into concerns about homeless encampments, panhandling and mental health treatment after many crime initiatives have languished.

The Legislature delivered on a handful of the governor’s major public safety priorities during a regular 30-day legislative session in January and February. But a long list of other gun control and public safety bills stalled without floor votes.

In an emailed statement, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she will call legislators back to Santa Fe on July 18 “to finish what they started during the 30-day legislative session.”

Lujan Grisham has recently expressed interest in responses to homeless encampments and addiction that would allow judges to order criminal defendants with acute mental health or substance-abuse problems into treatment programs, or adapt civil proceedings to commit people to treatment where family members are unable to intervene.

She also has signaled support for legislative proposals running the gamut from new restrictions on panhandling along busy thoroughfares to increased criminal penalties for felons in possession of a firearm.