On November 21, 2024, New Mexico’s Justice Reinvestment Working Group (JRWG) released a comprehensive report on the state’s criminal justice system, presenting 19 policy recommendations to address the state’s most pressing public safety challenges. These recommendations are the product of the state’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) effort, a sixteen-month process across New Mexico’s three branches of government. The report is the result of a collaborative effort between the JRWG and the Crime and Justice Institute (CJI), with support from the New Mexico Sentencing Commission, which published the findings.

A Data-Driven Effort to Improve New Mexico’s Public Safety

The JRWG was established in August 2023 by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, House and Senate leadership, and the Chief Justice to conduct an intensive, data-driven assessment of New Mexico’s criminal justice system. Over seven months, the group engaged with more than 150 stakeholders across both rural and urban New Mexico communities, reviewing state policies, analyzing data at key decision points, and examining successful strategies from other states that faced similar challenges.

Throughout this process, CJI provided essential technical assistance, including expert data analysis, research, and strategic guidance to help the JRWG finalize the report and its policy recommendations.

Key Findings and Policy Recommendations

The report’s findings highlight that New Mexico’s lack of accessible mental health and addiction services is shifting law enforcement resources away from resolving more serious public safety threats. In response, the JRWG outlined four key policy areas for reform:

  • Strengthening and Prioritizing Public Safety and Public Health Responses including: establishing statewide crisis response, enhancing collaboration between system partners, and creating a public crime data dashboard.
  • Focusing Prison Resources on Serious, Violent Offenders including addressing the wide range of conduct in the state’s lowest felony class and creating more accountability for individuals charged with drug possession.
  • Prioritizing Resources for High-Cost, High-Need Individuals including tailoring probation conditions to individual risk and needs, establishing standardized and timely responses to violations, and expanding medication-assisted treatment.
  • Reinvesting Savings and Ensuring Sustainability of Interventions including investing in recruitment and training initiatives for system actors and safeguarding the successful outcomes of this comprehensive public safety package.

Addressing New Mexico’s Public Health Crisis

New Mexico faces some of the highest rates of violent crime and substance use disorders (SUDs) in the nation. Over the past decade, New Mexico’s correctional population has largely mirrored national trends—rising rates of SUDs and declining prison, jail, and community supervision populations. However, despite these trends, only 6% of individuals with SUDs in New Mexico received treatment as of 2022.

The JRWG’s recommendations aim to address these gaps in the state’s continuum of care, offering data-driven strategies to improve public health outcomes and reduce recidivism, ultimately advancing public safety.

Looking Ahead: Legislative Action in 2025

The JRWG will submit the report to legislative leaders for consideration during the 2025 legislative session, which begins on January 21, 2025.

“We are eager to continue collaborating with the working group and stakeholders across New Mexico to promote these findings and assist state lawmakers in advancing meaningful change. New Mexico has demonstrated a strong commitment to improving its justice system through its participation in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, and we are confident that this data-driven analysis will provide valuable insights to support informed decision-making.” —Len Engel, CJI Director of Policy & Campaigns

About the Justice Reinvestment Initiative

JRI is funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a component of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, with support from Arnold Ventures. The initiative leverages technical assistance from experts like CJI to assist states in using data to analyze and improve their justice systems.

Visit www.justicereinvestmentinitiative.org to discover how bipartisan efforts are driving transformative change in justice systems across the country.

Interested in Learning More?

Explore the following resources to dive deeper into the New Mexico JRWG’s findings and recommendations:

Contact Us

For more information about CJI’s role in New Mexico’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative, please reach out to Len Engel, CJI Director of Policy & Campaigns.

This project was supported by Grant No. 15PBJA-21-GK-04350-JRIX awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office. Points of view or opinions in this presentation are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.