NMAGO 00-02.

Case DateMay 19, 2000
CourtNew Mexico
New Mexico Attorney General Opinions 2000. NMAGO 00-02. May 19, 2000OPINION OF Opinion No. 00-02 PATRICIA A. MADRID Attorney General BY: Elizabeth A. Glenn Assistant Attorney General TO: The Honorable John M. PaternosterDistrict Attorney Eighth Judicial District P.O. Drawer E Taos, New Mexico 87571 QUESTION: Does a county sheriff's department have exclusive responsibility for transporting county prisoners to and from court hearings once they have been committed to the county jail? CONCLUSION: No. County sheriffs do not have the exclusive duty to transport prisoners. Under the applicable statutes, while not expressly stated, sheriffs, jail administrators and independent contractors operating local jails all have sufficient authority to transport inmates in their custody. FACTS: In Taos County, the county jail is operated by a jail administrator and the County has contracted with detention facilities in other jurisdictions for the housing of prisoners. These circumstances have led to questions regarding which entity - the Taos County Sheriff, the Taos County jail administrator or administrators at other detention facilities at which County prisoners are housed - are responsible for transporting Taos County prisoners in their custody or under their supervision to and from court. ANALYSIS: Until the mid-1980's, sheriffs evidently had exclusive control over county jails, including the transportation of prisoners in their custody to and from court. In 1983 and 1984, legislation was enacted that gave counties the option of appointing a jail administrator or independent contractor to operate the county jails. See N.M. Laws 1983, ch. 181; N.M. Laws 1984, ch. 22. See also NMSA 1978, § 3-33-1 (1984) (stating that the "common [county] jails shall be under the control of the respective sheriffs, independent contractors or jail administrators..."). This legislation did not directly address whether, in counties that exercised the options authorized by these statutes, sheriffs continued to be solely responsible for transporting county jail inmates to court. Current statutory provisions reflect that the transportation of prisoners continues to be a responsibility of the local sheriffs. For example, sheriffs are required, among other things, to "cause all offenders to keep the peace and to appear at the next term of the court and...

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