Gov. Martinez fights for stricter sex offender laws

Gov. Susana Martinez is cracking down on sex offenders who move to New Mexico from other states.

As the law stands now, not all of them are required to register in New Mexico.

Every state has different laws regulating the crimes that require sex offenders to be registered.

According to current state law, sex offenders who move to New Mexico from other states are only required to register if they’ve been convicted of certain crimes.

Martinez wants to change the law after a state Supreme Court ruling last week.

The court overturned a Las Cruces man’s guilty plea for not registering in the state.

Even though the man was required to register in California, the court said there was not enough evidence to show the man’s offense is equivalent to a crime that requires registration in New Mexico.

Martinez wants all sex offenders who move from out of state to register, regardless of the crimes they’ve been convicted of.

“It is actually identified as a sex offense and this is the sex offender, so for us to protect New Mexicans, they should be required to register as a sex offender so that everyone can go on the website and say, ‘Who are my neighbors? Is anyone in my neighborhood a sex offender?’ In the state of California, Texas, whomever has identified him as such, we should know that too,” Martinez told ABC-7.

Martinez said she will fight for these changes during the upcoming legislative session.