New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center Reports

2024

Felony Case Processing

March 2024

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

New Mexico has a two-tiered system for processing criminal felony offenses. Felony cases are initiated in the lower courts and bound over to the district court for prosecution after a finding of probable cause. Once in district court, the case may be adjudicated. Not all cases are bound over, however, and whether adjudication occurs is dependent upon decisions made along the way that influence the trajectory of the case. This study follows a sample of 23,464 felony cases filed and disposed in New Mexico’s lower courts (magistrate or metropolitan court if in Bernalillo County) between 2017 and 2022. It examines case trajectory, case outcomes, time to resolution, and changes in charges over the progression of the case. The study explores the characteristics of cases that progress to District Court, as well as characteristics associated with case outcomes and time to resolution, including whether Covid-19 played a role. The report includes descriptive statistics and illustrates the progression of these cases.

2023

Felony Case Initiation Type: The Use of Grand Jury versus Preliminary Examination in New Mexico

April 2023

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

Prosecutors in New Mexico and across the nation have discretion when choosing how to pursue felony criminal cases, either by a preliminary examination hearing or grand jury. National and local stakeholders have raised concerns about case initiation type. Some argue against preliminary examination hearings, citing that the method is subject to frequent rescheduling and may be more traumatic for victims. Others argue against the use of grand juries. Opponents maintain that grand juries do not protect innocent defendants, that they are neither cost nor time-effective, and may be less likely to result in a conviction. New Mexico, however, has limited data on the effectiveness of either process, leaving a gap in knowledge this study aims to help fill. This study has two parts. Part 1 focuses on the relationship between case initiation and felony case processing; Part 2 explores the rescheduling of preliminary hearings. The study includes a stratified random sample of 410 cases filed between 2017 and 2020 across the state. Case flow analyses and descriptive statistics summarize the findings. This study is was funded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Fast Facts—Felony Case Initiation Type: The Use of Grand Jury versus Preliminary Examination in New Mexico

April 2023

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

Fast Facts—Felony Case Initiation Type: The Use of Grand Jury versus Preliminary Examination in New Mexico

2022

Impact of Bail Reform in Six New Mexico Counties

September 2022

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

The New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center received funding from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to complete a multi-phase study assessing New Mexico’s bail reform efforts. The current report examines the impact of bail reform in six New Mexico counties. This study first explores the use and amount of bond judges ordered as recorded in criminal court cases where conditions of release were set, using data from the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). The data includes cases disposed between 2015 and 2019, and consists of misdemeanor and felony cases, both pretrial and post-disposition. Second, using data from New Mexico county detention centers and the AOC, the study explores the impact of bail reform among defendants booked between 2015 and 2019 for a new felony offense. This allows us to examine the impact of bail reform on pretrial practices among felony defendants—the target of New Mexico’s constitutional amendment on bail reform. Specifically, the study examines four outcomes: pretrial detention practices, the use of bond, failure/success rates among those released pretrial; and court efficiency. By analyzing pre- and post- bail reform data, we found that the amendment has been successful in reducing the average amount of bond ordered and the frequency with which it is ordered. Judges, however, ordered temporary no-bond holds when issuing a warrant for arrest more frequently after bail reform. Overall, defendants involved in new felony cases were detained for a shorter period of time. However, this was not true across the board: a slightly greater percentage were subject to a short period of detention (rather than immediate release), and those detained during the entire pretrial period spent more time in jail post-reform. During the pretrial period, new violent offenses increased slightly by 2%; new offenses overall increased by 1%. Failures to appear were more common after bail reform, with a 5% increase, but this varied significantly by county. In general, time to case resolution decreased post-bail reform, though cases involving defendants detained the entire pretrial period took slightly longer to resolve. Detailed results are available in the full report; a summary of key findings is available in the Fast Facts report.

2021

Bail Reform: Motions for Pretrial Detention and their Outcomes

August 2021

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

The New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center received funding from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to complete a multi-phase study assessing New Mexico’s bail reform efforts. This report is from the third phase of the study, and focuses on preventative detention motions filed by prosecutors across New Mexico. The study addresses three overarching questions: 1) What are the estimated rates of filing for preventative detention? 2) What are the outcomes of these motions? 3) What case and defendant characteristics are associated with prosecutors’ decisions to file for preventative detention and how these are related to pretrial detention outcomes? The study includes an assessment of the use of bail as a condition of release, length of pretrial detention, and rates of pretrial failure.

Fast Facts: Bail Reform: Pretrial Detention Motions and their Outcomes

August 2021

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

This Fast Facts report highlights key findings from the New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center's full-length report examining preventative detention motions filed by prosecutors across New Mexico. The study addresses three overarching questions: 1) What are the estimated rates of filing for preventative detention? 2) What are the outcomes of these motions? 3) What case and defendant characteristics are associated with prosecutors’ decisions to file for preventative detention and how these are related to pretrial detention outcomes? The study includes an assessment of the use of bail as a condition of release, length of pretrial detention, and rates of pretrial failure.

2020

Domestic Violence in New Mexico: Criminal Case Processing and Outcomes

December 2020

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

The New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center received funding from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to study the case processing of domestic and non-domestic aggravated and sexual assault cases. Two primary research questions guide the study. First, it explores whether there are criminal justice disparities among aggravated assault and sexual assault cases involving domestic violence relative to cases not involving domestic violence. Second, it examines whether female defendants are treated differently than male defendants. Overall, we find that case processing outcomes for domestic assault are either the same or less serious than case processing outcomes for non-domestic assault. These findings differ from those found in a national study conducted by BJS, but are similar to other findings in New Mexico and elsewhere. We also find that male defendants generally have more serious case processing outcomes than female defendants, but this is moderated somewhat by domestic violence involvement. This report describes these findings. A summary report can be found in the “Fast Facts” section of our website.

Fast Facts-Domestic Violence in New Mexico: Criminal Case Processing Outcomes

November 2020

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

This report provides highlights case processing outcomes for domestic and non-domestic violence related aggravated assault and sexual assault. It highlights key findings in criminal justice outcomes by domestic violence status and gender.

Executive Summary: Implementing Bail Reform in New Mexico

November 2020

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Analysis,
Research

New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center completed the second phase of a study examining bail reform in the state. This phase focuses on the implementation of bail reform primarily from the perspective of judges, prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, and pretrial services staff. The purpose of this document is to briefly describe this study and present key findings. These findings are described in detail in the full-length report.

Implementing Bail Reform in New Mexico

November 2020

Centers:

NMSAC

New Mexico voters passed a state constitutional amendment to reform bail practices in 2016. New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center is assessing bail reform efforts; this report represents the second phase of this multi-phase study. New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center staff conducted interviews with judges, prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, and pretrial services employees to assess implementation of bail reform. This report documents findings from these interviews and other data, focusing on implementation, perceived impact, supports for the facilitation of bail reform, and areas for improvement. We provide recommendations for stakeholders in New Mexico and for those in other states considering or implementing bail reform.

2019

Bail Reform: Baseline Measures

October 2019

Centers:

NMSAC

In 2016, the voters of New Mexico passed a constitutional amendment to reform bail practices in the state. We are conducting a multi-phase study assessing the bail reform efforts. The first phase establishes baseline measures using data from four New Mexico counties (Chaves, Doña Ana, Luna, and Santa Fe). This report measures pre-reform bail practices, including release decisions, pretrial detention rate and length of stay, and pretrial failure rates.

Assessing Record Linkage Matches Using String Distance Measures

July 2019

Centers:

NMSAC

The New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center (NMSAC) often links records in two or more datasets using some combination of personal identifiers, including Soundex name matching. After the matches are completed, staff manually checks each matching name pair to assess whether the match is a good one. This process is time consuming. The purpose of this project was to explore the efficacy of using string distance algorithms to minimize the amount of time spent on manual review. This report summarizes our findings.

2018

Substance Use among New Mexico Probationers and Parolees

August 2018

Centers:

NMSAC

The NMSAC received funding from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to complete a study of substance use among New Mexico probationers and parolees. This study examines trends in positive substance tests over a span of 12 years, and explores the characteristics of individuals who tested positive for one or more substances. The study highlights the use of opioids among the probationer and parolee population in New Mexico. This report summarizes these findings.

Correlates of Substance Use Preferences and Prison Revocations

August 2018

Centers:

NMSAC

The NMSAC received funding from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to complete this study, which has two objectives. First, it examines the correlates of substance use by substance type. Second, it explores whether substance use type, particularly opioid use, influences revocation of community supervision. The findings from this study indicate that the risk factors associated with substance use vary by substance type. Only two variables—a history of substance use and parolee status—were associated with increased odds of substance use regardless of the substance type. The odds of testing positive for specific substances differed by specific demographic characteristics, social capital, stability, current offense, and criminal history. These results indicate there may be different risk and protective factors associated with the choice of substance. The findings also indicate that the odds of returning to prison are highest for those who use stimulants, with or without opioids, holding all other factors constant. Other variables, such as current offense, supervision level, and violation history were associated with revocations, as were demographic variables including gender and race. This report summarizes these findings.

Bookings and case dispositions: Violent, property, and drug crimes in Santa Fe County, New Mexico

May 2018

Centers:

NMSAC

The NMSAC completed a study funded by the Drug Policy Alliance. The purpose of the study was to track court case outcomes of individuals booked into a New Mexico county detention center. It includes those whose most serious offenses involved a violent crime, property crime, or drug offense. An important component of the study was to examine drug-related bookings and court case outcomes by drug type. We found over half of the cases were dismissed. Further, court disposition was associated with personal and case characteristics. However, this varied by offense type. This report summarizes those findings.

2017

Absconding and Other Supervision Violations: A Study of Probationers, Parolees, and Dual Supervision in New Mexico

August 2017

Centers:

NMSAC

This report summarizes the results of our study of probation and parole violations within New Mexico, emphasizing absconding violations. We summarize rates of probation/parole violations, average time to violations, and rates of return to prison. In addition, we examine rates of absconding by socio-economic and spatial characteristics. Finally, using multivariate analyses, we assess which individual, supervision, and community characteristics are associated with time to absconding and absconding behavior. This study was funded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Executive Summary: Pretrial Detention and Case Processing Measures: A Study of Nine New Mexico Counties

May 2017

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

The New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center completed a study of pretrial case processing measures and pretrial detention within nine New Mexico counties. The purpose of this document is to describe the study and present key findings. These findings are described in detail in the full-length report entitled “Pretrial Detention and Case Processing Measures: A Study of Nine New Mexico Counties.”

Pretrial Detention and Case Processing Measures: A Study of Nine New Mexico Counties

May 2017

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

The New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center completed a study of pretrial case processing measures and pretrial detention within nine New Mexico counties. This study addresses multiple objectives. First, this study was intended to explore the feasibility of developing case processing performance measures that are more robust than those currently used. Second, this study is intended to understand the extent of pretrial detention and the factors associated with pretrial detention. Third, we assess the degree to which pretrial detention decisions appear to be accurate. Finally, we explored whether pretrial detention influences case processing and outcomes.

2016

Evaluation of Bernalillo County Metropolitan Area Project Safe Neighborhoods

April 2016

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Program Evaluation,
Project,
Analysis,
Data Collection

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) was implemented in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan area. PSN is a national initiative aimed at reducing firearm and gang-related violent crime. This process evaluation details project activities, implementation facilitators and barriers, and offers suggestions for improvement and future directions.

2015

Executive Summary: New Mexico Recovery Academy Evaluation Study

September 2015

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Research

In conjunction with the New Mexico Sentencing Commission, staff from the New Mexico Statistical Analysis completed an initial evaluation of the Men’s and Women’s New Mexico Recovery Academies. Key findings are summarized in this document.

Prison Program Utilization and Recidivism among Female Inmates in New Mexico

May 2015

Centers:

NMSAC

Type:

Project,
Research

This study focused on two aspects of in-prison programming among female inmates in New Mexico. First, we sought to understand the factors that influence in-prison program utilization. Second, we explored the impact of participation in prison programming on recidivism.