Marcus Montoya, Eighth Judicial District lawyer and president of the New Mexico District Attorneys’ Affiliation, offered his workplace’s price range request to the Legislative Finance Committee on Nov. 19, 2025. (Joshua Bowling/Supply New Mexico)
Every of New Mexico’s district attorneys on Wednesday requested state lawmakers throughout ongoing Legislative Finance Committee hearings to enhance their funding within the upcoming legislative session. Most each prosecutor’s workplace requested for more cash to rent attorneys and help workers, however DAs in New Mexico’s most rural areas had a singular set of requests.
Within the Eighth Judicial District, which incorporates Taos, Colfax and Union counties, prosecuting attorneys depend on a high-mileage fleet of vehicles to cowl courthouse visits that require driving as a lot as 140 to 266 miles round-trip. Within the Fifth Judicial District, which incorporates Roswell, attorneys expertise disruptions to web speeds and reliability throughout digital discovery processes. And throughout the state, IT companies and computer systems are “at end-of-life” and want a serious overhaul, the president of the New Mexico Administrative Workplace of the District Attorneys mentioned.
Marcus Montoya, district lawyer for the Eighth Judicial District and president of the New Mexico District Attorneys’ Affiliation, mentioned his workplace at present has 10 autos, two of which have clocked greater than 100,000 miles. The odometer on his workplace’s 2005 Toyota Matrix lately rolled over to 142,282 miles, he mentioned, noting that Kelley Blue Guide assigns that car a median lifespan of 147,428 miles.
His workers attorneys want the autos to attend courtroom hearings, serve subpoenas and attend conferences all through the huge district, Montoya mentioned. Excessive climate isn’t unusual in his a part of the state, the place roads and highways stretch by way of craggy, mountainous terrain.
“We’re the Dutch boy plugging the dam with our finger,” Montoya mentioned.
He requested state lawmakers to extend his workplace’s base price range by about 4.4%, which would come with $75,000 to improve its car fleet. In all, his workplace requested about $6 million. Montoya’s workplace isn’t alone — the twelfth Judicial District Lawyer’s Workplace, which incorporates Alamogordo, additionally requested about $71,000 to switch autos with 150,000 miles.
Dianna Luce, DA for the Fifth Judicial District, instructed state lawmakers that her workplace has points with web speeds and mentioned that convincing College of New Mexico regulation graduates to maneuver to Chaves County is a troublesome proposition. As of Wednesday, she mentioned her workplace has seven unfilled workers lawyer positions.
“This can be very troublesome to rent attorneys,” she mentioned. “We primarily rent from outdoors the state.”