PUBLIC SAFETY WORKFORCE BUILDING PROGRAM, the official text

HOUSE BILL 255

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Charlotte Little and Meredith A. Dixon and Sarah Silva

and Cathrynn N. Brown

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. [NEW MATERIAL] 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
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 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 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
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:

(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
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. [NEW MATERIAL] 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 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
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.

- 10 -