New Mexico court officials report positive early data from new competency, diversion law

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the law last year at the same signing ceremony as the Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act, which seeks to rebuild the state’s behavioral healthcare system. At the time, she said the two pieces of legislation would work together to combat the state’s outsized rates of crime and mental health crises.

At an interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee hearing in Las Vegas on Thursday, court officials said that the law has already appeared to lead to fewer repeat arrests, although they noted the data is preliminary.

Previously, if a felony-level defendant was found to be dangerous and not competent to stand trial, judges could only order them to be committed at a psychiatric facility, according to the state Legislative Council Service. The new law allows judges to order treatment at community-based programs in addition to psychiatric facilities, and includes defendants charged with misdemeanors, as well.

While the law was working its way through the Roundhouse in the 2025 legislative session, behavioral healthcare advocates expressed concerns over the lack of a statewide competency restoration program.

To that end, AOC’s Senior Statewide Behavioral Health Program Manager Stacey Boone told lawmakers that the courts have piloted assisted outpatient treatment programs in three of the state’s 13 judicial districts since early 2025.

“We have served over 400 individuals through our competency diversion pilot program,” Boone said, adding that she and her colleagues are working to expand eligibility to defendants who do not have a history of being found not competent to stand trial. “We want them to get diverted out so that they don’t have to develop that history to be eligible for these types of initiatives.”

Diversion efforts, which offer treatment rather than prosecution to defendants with severe mental illnesses, have so far been effective, Boone said. For instance, early data shows that defendants who go through a diversion program have “significantly lower odds” of new criminal activity.

One lawmaker on the committee, Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces), countered that the data could be misleading. Those people might still be committing crimes and just not getting arrested, he said.

“They haven’t been caught committing new crimes,” he said. “I’m not saying they are. I’m saying we don’t know.”

Discussion at the Thursday morning hearing focused on the overlap between the so-called competency law and a broader effort — led by officials from the Administrative Office of the Courts, the New Mexico Health Care Authority and behavioral health experts — to rebuild the state’s behavioral health network, Cervantes also questioned whether these entities are the right ones to oversee the effort.

New Mexico lawmakers express frustration with long process to rebuild behavioral health system

An executive committee has overseen the effort in which local leaders from 13 behavioral health regions in the state, mirrored after the 13 judicial districts, file plans with the state detailing the behavioral health gaps and priorities in their communities. So far, the committee has approved two of those regional plans and expects to vote on the majority of those still outstanding at an August meeting.

Recently, some lawmakers have criticized the committee for not yet adopting a comprehensive statewide plan to address these needs.

On Thursday, however, Cervantes, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, told his panel of fellow lawmakers that he was concerned the judicial branch was taking on matters outside of its scope.

“I think the judiciary should not become social workers — and that’s what’s happening,” he said.