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Many people who break the law need drug treatment. That’s pretty common knowledge, but the state Corrections Department has no treatment program. Now, battered by a new state law and a lawsuit, the department will drag itself into the 21st century. Meanwhile, it’s sending inmates needing treatment back to county facilities. 

That’s just one expense of many for county detention facilities.

Last November I wrote that crime discussions during the legislative session “must look at all the moving parts of the criminal justice system, including the humble county jail.”

They did. Counties got more money for detention officer recruiting and salaries and better reimbursement for their costs of housing the state’s inmates in county jails. But it’s not enough. 

While counties appreciate the new appropriations, they need more. Grace Philips, risk management director for the New Mexico Association of Counties, explained why during a recent meeting of the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee.

“Booking numbers are important,” Philips said. 

In fiscal year 2024, statewide detention bookings totaled 83,779, up from 76,711 in 2023. The total has risen steadily since 2021. The average daily population this year was 5,404.

Ideally, a felony offender would be briefly incarcerated in the county where they were arrested. New Mexico has 25 county detention centers. But many detainees spend a lot of time in county facilities because they can get drug treatment in county jails that’s not available in state prison.

 “Federal regulations require all corrections facilities to continue treatment and have a full fledged program,” said Philips. 

A law passed last year gave the department nearly two years to comply. However, a lawsuit settlement this year requires the Corrections Department to treat inmates’ opioid-use disorders now, although it still doesn’t have a program.

“Without access to their doctor-prescribed medication in prison, people with opioid-use disorder suffer painful and dangerous withdrawal and face a high risk of relapse, overdose, and death, both in prison and upon their release. It is cruel and illogical to deny this treatment to people,” said Tim Gardner, legal director of Disability Rights New Mexico, which brought the lawsuit with ACLU New Mexico.

Inmates currently have a bizarre choice. If they want to continue drug treatment they can stay in county facilities, which have fewer amenities, and they earn no time for good behavior. If they choose to be a state inmate, they don’t get drug treatment.

That’s one issue. The larger concern is that the state doesn’t pay its share of costs when counties house state inmates. Years ago, counties sued, and the court declared the state responsible for housing state inmates. In 2007 the lawmakers created the County Detention Facility Reimbursement Fund and appropriated $5 million for it. The balance dropped below $2.5 million before being replenished to $5 million in 2022. 

Since 2019 the state has reimbursed a fraction of the actual cost of holding inmates, according to data from the association. In fiscal 2024 the state paid the counties $5 million of their $9.4 million cost. That’s up from paying about a quarter of costs in 2019. 

In the next legislative session counties will ask for $8.2 million for the fund. That’s what the New Mexico Sentencing Commission calculates is the five-year average cost for counties to house state Corrections Department inmates.

“There is a big gap between the cost to counties and what the Legislature approves,” Philips said. 

She worries the divide will get worse.

Another headache for counties is recruiting detention officers. They’re grateful for $2.8 million appropriated this year. Spread over three years, the funding will offset the cost of 189 positions at 22 entities, but requests totaled more than 850 positions.

We need to remember that getting criminals off the street is just the first step.