PUBLIC SAFETY WORKFORCE BUILDING PROGRAM

HB 255
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AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY; CREATING THE PUBLIC SAFETY
WORKFORCE BUILDING PROGRAM; CREATING THE PUBLIC SAFETY
WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING FUND AS A NONREVERTING FUND IN
THE STATE TREASURY; PROVIDING FOR EXPENDITURES FROM THE FUND;
PROVIDING GRANT AWARD CRITERIA PRIORITIZING RECRUITMENT,
JURISDICTIONAL COLLABORATION AND INVESTIGATIONS; LIMITING THE
USES OF GRANT MONEY; REQUIRING REPORTS; TRANSFERRING TO THE
PUBLIC SAFETY WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING FUND THE REMAINING
BALANCES FROM THE LAW ENFORCEMENT WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING
FUND, THE PUBLIC ATTORNEY WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING FUND
AND THE DETENTION AND CORRECTIONS WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING
FUND; REPEALING SECTIONS 9-6-17 THROUGH 9-6-19 NMSA 1978
(BEING LAWS 2023, CHAPTER 188, SECTIONS 1 THROUGH 3); MAKING
APPROPRIATIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. PUBLIC SAFETY WORKFORCE BUILDING PROGRAM--
GRANTS.--
A. The "public safety workforce building program"
is created in the department to provide grant funding for
initiatives to increase the state's available workforce and
capacity for employment of public safety professionals in law
enforcement, firefighting, detention or corrections and
licensed attorneys working in district attorney offices or
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public defender offices and to purchase equipment in
furtherance of the program's objectives.
B. To receive a grant, an applicant shall apply to
the department on a form and in a manner prescribed by the
department. An application shall include:
(1) a description of the initiative proposed
by the applicant;
(2) a description of the initiative that
demonstrates it will meet an objective of the program; and
(3) details and specifics as to the
reasonable expected costs and completion date of the proposed
initiative.
C. The department shall determine which proposed
initiatives are approved to receive a grant through a
competitive review process pursuant to rules promulgated by
the department. The department may adjust the amount of
money requested for a proposed initiative based on its
determination of the reasonable costs of the initiative.
Once an initiative is approved, the department shall promptly
offer each applicant a grant, as appropriate. If a grantee
accepts an offer, the initiative may commence, and the
grantee shall report to the department on the progress of the
initiative on a periodic basis, as determined by the
department, including an accounting of expenditures made for
the initiative. Funds allocated to an approved initiative
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shall be spent within two years of receiving a grant, and if
any unexpended balance remains at the end of the initiative
period, the grantee shall immediately return that balance to
the department. The department shall deposit returned
amounts in the public safety workforce capacity building
fund.
D. The department shall develop criteria to guide
determinations for awarding a grant and shall:
(1) take into consideration:
(a) an applicant's public safety
professional vacancy rate;
(b) the cost of living and comparable
market compensation for an applicant's locality; and
(c) the crime rates in an applicant's
locality; and
(2) prioritize consideration of applicant
proposals for initiatives that:
(a) target the recruitment of
individuals who are experienced public safety professionals
and not currently employed by a governmental entity within
the state;
(b) include collaborations between
overlapping jurisdictions; and
(c) increase investigative, response or
case management capacity, including recruitment or retention
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of personnel or training existing personnel to serve in new
public safety roles.
E. The department may award a grant to an eligible
entity and shall allocate grant money equitably. For the
purposes of this subsection, if applicants whose primary
jurisdictions are within different counties apply jointly for
a grant and the grant is awarded, each applicant shall
receive an award amount based on the applicant's county. The
department shall award grants based on an applicant's county
as follows:
(1) up to twenty-five percent of the money
in the fund at the time of the award, less administrative
costs as provided in Section 2 of this 2026 act, for grants
awarded to applicants whose primary jurisdiction is within a
county with a population of at least five hundred thousand
according to the most recent federal decennial census;
(2) up to thirty-five percent of the money
in the fund at the time of the award, less administrative
costs as provided in Section 2 of this 2026 act, for grants
awarded to applicants whose primary jurisdiction is within a
county with a population of at least one hundred thousand but
less than five hundred thousand according to the most recent
federal decennial census; and
(3) any amount of available money remaining
in the fund for grants awarded to applicants whose primary
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jurisdiction is within a county with a population of less
than one hundred thousand according to the most recent
federal decennial census.
F. A grantee may use a grant to:
(1) provide a recruitment differential
disbursement, including a disbursement for relocation
expenses for a newly hired public safety professional;
provided that the public safety professional hired remains
employed with the grantee for a period of time as provided by
rule of the department;
(2) provide a retention differential
disbursement to a public safety professional who is already
employed by the grantee and who is not an elected public
official; provided that the public safety professional
remains employed with that grantee for a period of time as
provided by rule of the department;
(3) implement professional development
initiatives designed to recruit, train or retain public
safety professionals;
(4) implement campaigns to recruit in-state
or out-of-state public safety professionals; or
(5) pay for equipment or equipment upgrades
tied to professional development initiatives designed to
recruit public safety professionals.
G. A grantee shall not use a grant:
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(1) for a recurring initiative, unless the
grantee first provides a plan to replace nonrecurring funds
with recurring funds to fund the initiative; or
(2) to create a public safety professional
position or fund the base salary of an existing public safety
position.
H. Within ninety days of receiving a grant, and
every ninety days thereafter until the earliest of either the
completion of the grantee's initiative or when the funds are
expended, the grantee shall provide to the department a
report containing the grantee's initiative expenditures. Any
unexpended balance remaining after completion of the
initiative shall revert to the fund within thirty days of
completion.
I. By November 1 of each fiscal year, the
department shall provide an annual report regarding the
program to the legislative finance committee that includes:
(1) information about each grant applicant,
the grant amount requested and the title and description of
the applicant's proposed initiative;
(2) grantee information, including the
grantee's agency, the grant amount awarded and the title and
description of the grantee's initiative;
(3) data collected and evaluations by the
department regarding the efficacy of the initiatives of grant
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award recipients; and
(4) the status of ongoing workload studies
and the results of completed workload studies.
J. The department shall promulgate rules to
administer the program. At a minimum, the rules shall
include provisions to:
(1) establish procedures for submission of
applications and review, evaluation and approval of proposed
initiative applications;
(2) accord priority attention to areas with
the greatest need; and
(3) evaluate the ability and competence of
an applicant to provide efficiently and adequately for the
completion of a proposed initiative.
K. As used in this section:
(1) "department" means the department of
finance and administration;
(2) "eligible entity" means the state or a
political subdivision of the state; and
(3) "fund" means the public safety workforce
capacity building fund.
SECTION 2. PUBLIC SAFETY WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING
FUND--CREATED.--The "public safety workforce capacity
building fund" is created as a nonreverting fund in the state
treasury to support the objectives of the public safety
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workforce building program. The fund consists of
distributions, appropriations, gifts, grants, donations and
income from investment of the fund. Money in the fund is
appropriated to the department of finance and administration.
Expenditures from the fund shall be made on warrant of the
secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers
signed by the secretary of finance and administration or the
secretary's authorized representative. The department of
finance and administration shall administer the fund to
provide grant disbursements and pay administrative costs
necessary to carry out the provisions of Section 1 of this
2026 act; provided that the amount expended for
administrative costs shall not exceed three percent of the
annual balance of the fund.
SECTION 3. TEMPORARY PROVISION.--On and after July 1,
2026, statutory references to the law enforcement workforce
capacity building fund, the public attorney workforce
capacity building fund or the detention and corrections
workforce capacity building fund shall be deemed to be
references to the public safety workforce capacity building
fund, and on July 1, 2026:
A. the balance in the law enforcement workforce
capacity building fund is transferred to the public safety
workforce capacity building fund;
B. the balance of the public attorney workforce
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capacity building fund is transferred to the public safety
workforce capacity building fund;
C. the balance of the detentions and corrections
workforce capacity building fund is transferred to the public
safety workforce capacity building fund;
D. the balance from the appropriations in
Subsection (7) of Section 10 of Chapter 54 of Laws 2022 is
transferred to the public safety workforce capacity building
fund;
E. the balance from the appropriations in
Subsection (48) of Section 5 of Chapter 210 of Laws 2023 is
transferred to the public safety workforce capacity building
fund; and
F. the balances from the appropriations in
Subsections (36) and (42) of Section 5 of Chapter 69 of Laws
2024 are transferred to the public safety workforce capacity
building fund.
SECTION 4. REPEAL.--Sections 9-6-17 through 9-6-19 NMSA
1978 (being Laws 2023, Chapter 188, Sections 1 through 3) are
repealed.
SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is July 1, 2026.