Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners discuss Writ of Mandamus against Sheriff Stewart
Update: The Sheriff's Office released the following statement:
"Dona Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart announced Monday, February 24, 2025, that she appointed Robert C. Parra as Undersheriff to the recently vacated position. Mr. Parra brings a wealth of law enforcement experience having served both in county and state government.
Former Undersheriff Tessa Abeyta served with distinction for 13 months before accepting another position. Her contribution to DASO was significant despite the limited time she was here. She will be missed by all.
Finally, we are very pleased to hear the Board of County Commissioners are seeking an external audit. It is suggested that the external auditors' work be extended to include Human Resources and the Legal Department as these departments are regularly impacted by these partnerships. Sheriff Stewart is not the first in her Office to have challenging experiences with county government and has requested numerous times over the years for a mediator to be retained. Her request is now likely to materialize sooner than later. It is also imperative that DASO should be given the opportunity to collectively agree on a fair and unbiased external auditor.
DASO is willing to work closely with county management in order to maintain consistent cohesiveness as we continue to move forward."
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- A presentation was held Tuesday morning in front of the Board of County Commissioners to outline the events that led to a Writ of Mandamus being filed against Sheriff Kim Stewart earlier this month.
The emergency court order was filed by Doña Ana County Manager Scott Andrews, and claims that the sheriff is not carrying out her duties to commission new sheriff deputies, and threatened her removal from office if she refused to do so.
As ABC-7 reported on February 18th, Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart told her office that she had reservations about commissioning new 14 new cadets that graduated on February 13th.
This was according to emails that were attached to court documents obtained by ABC-7.
In one of the emails, she stated she has no power to demote or decommission employees in her office due to the county’s merit system, which led to her saying “it begs the question of why I commission at all.”
Acting County Attorney Cari Neill outlined Tuesday's presentation to the commissioners, which showed that on February 20th, Sheriff Stewart announced that she had commissioned the 14 deputies "to be in compliance with the Writ of Mandamus."
However, Neill stated that that information must still be delivered to various county offices, which as of Tuesday, hasn't happened yet.
According to state law, once any law enforcement officer has been commissioned, the Sheriff must file one notice of the commissioning to the Doña Ana County Clerk, as well as another notice to the Third Judicial District Court. Each commissioned deputy is then also required to file an oath of office with the County Clerk.
Neill says each of the commissioned deputies have filed their oaths of office, however, she says she "doesn't have anything at this time to show that the Sheriff has filed her notices."
ABC-7 has reached out to the Doña Ana County Clerk's Office to confirm this, as well as the Third Judicial District Court.
We are still waiting to hear back from both at this time.
According to the county, the deadline for the Sheriff to do so is Friday, February 28th.
Following the presentation, BOCC Chair and District 1 Commissioner Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez suggested that "maybe it's time" that the Doña Ana County Sheriff's office undergoes an external audit.
"This is a huge undertaking, it's a lot to process, it's a lot to go through, not even I understand the entirety of what we're dealing with," said Schaljo-Hernandez.
Multiple commissioners nodded in agreement, with Vice Chair and District 4 Commissioner Susana Chaparro offering similar comments.
"I think [an external audit] is an excellent idea," said Chaparro.
"I think as we move forward to set guidance not only towards the deputies that are working, also the Sheriff, but to make sure that they are safe in their jobs. They do a hard job every day...and I'm seeing the stress of the department right now, and I'm seeing the stress of the command staff right now, and for us to move forward in a transparent and legal way, I think that at least in my opinion, an external audit is due," she added.
While no action was taken during Tuesday's meeting, the commissioners discussed adding an external audit as an agenda item in the future.
ABC-7 has also reached out to the Doña Ana County Public Safety office for a comment from Sheriff Stewart to see how she feels about the possibility of an external audit on her office.
