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HOUSE BILL 163
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
Andrea Reeb and William A. Hall II and Nicole Chavez
AN ACT
RELATING TO CHILDREN; AMENDING THE DELINQUENCY ACT TO INCLUDE
UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF CANNABIS AND ALCOHOL IN THE DEFINITION
OF "DELINQUENT ACT".
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 32A-2-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993,
Chapter 77, Section 32, as amended) is amended to read:
"32A-2-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Delinquency Act:
A. "delinquent act" means:
(1) an act committed by a child that would be
designated as a crime under the law if committed by an adult,
not including a violation of Section 30-9-2 NMSA 1978,
including the following offenses:
[(1)] (a) any of the following offenses
pursuant to municipal traffic codes or the Motor Vehicle Code:
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[(a)] 1) driving while under the influence of intoxicating
liquor or drugs; [(b) ] 2) failure to stop in the event of an
accident causing death, personal injury or damage to property;
[(c)] 3) unlawful taking of a vehicle or motor vehicle; [(d) ]
4) receiving or transferring of a stolen vehicle or motor
vehicle; [(e)] 5) homicide by vehicle; [(f) ] 6) injuring or
tampering with a vehicle; [(g) ] 7) altering or changing of an
engine number or other vehicle identification numbers; [(h) ] 8)
altering or forging of a driver's license or permit or any
making of a fictitious license or permit; [(i) ] 9) reckless
driving; [(j)] 10) driving with a suspended or revoked license;
or [(k)] 11) an offense punishable as a felony;
[(2) buying, attempting to buy, receiving,
possessing or being served any alcoholic liquor or being
present in a licensed liquor establishment, other than a
restaurant or a licensed retail liquor establishment, except in
the presence of the child's parent, guardian, custodian or
adult spouse. As used in this paragraph, "restaurant" means an
establishment where meals are prepared and served primarily for
on-premises consumption and that has a dining room, a kitchen
and the employees necessary for preparing, cooking and serving
meals. "Restaurant" does not include an establishment, as
defined in regulations promulgated by the director of the
special investigations unit of the department of public safety,
that serves only hamburgers, sandwiches, salads and other fast
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foods;
(3)] (b) a violation of Section 30-29-2
NMSA 1978, regarding the illegal use of a glue, aerosol spray
product or other chemical substance;
[(4)] (c) a violation of the Controlled
Substances Act;
[(5)] (d) escape from the custody of a
law enforcement officer or a juvenile probation or parole
officer or from any placement made by the department by a child
who has been adjudicated a delinquent child;
[(6)] (e) a violation of Section
30-15-1.1 NMSA 1978 regarding unauthorized graffiti on personal
or real property;
[(7)] (f) a violation of an order of
protection issued pursuant to the provisions of the Family
Violence Protection Act; or
[(8)] (g) trafficking cannabis as
provided in Section 26-2C-28 NMSA 1978; or
(2) any of the following activities relating
to alcohol and cannabis:
(a) attempting to buy, receiving,
possessing or being served any alcoholic liquor or being
present in a licensed liquor establishment, other than a
restaurant or a licensed retail liquor establishment, except in
the presence of the child's parent, guardian, custodian or
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adult spouse. As used in this subparagraph, "restaurant" means
an establishment where meals are prepared and served primarily
for on-premises consumption and that has a dining room, a
kitchen and the employees necessary for preparing, cooking and
serving meals. "Restaurant" does not include an establishment,
as defined in regulations promulgated by the director of the
special investigations unit of the department of public safety,
that serves only hamburgers, sandwiches, salads and other fast
foods; or
(b) buying, attempting to buy, receiving
or possessing cannabis pursuant to Section 26-2C-30 NMSA 1978.
Being present in a licensed retail cannabis establishment,
except in the presence of the child's parent, guardian,
custodian or adult spouse, buying, attempting to buy,
receiving, possessing or being served a cannabis product,
smoking a cannabis product in a public place or privately owned
property or producing cannabis; provided that a child who is in
possession of or is using cannabis pursuant to the Lynn and
Erin Compassionate Use Act is not a delinquent child ;
B. "delinquent child" means a child who has
committed a delinquent act;
C. "delinquent offender" means a delinquent child
who is subject to juvenile sanctions only and who is not a
youthful offender or a serious youthful offender;
D. "detention facility" means a place where a child
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may be detained under the Children's Code pending a court
hearing and does not include a facility for the care and
rehabilitation of an adjudicated delinquent child;
E. "felony" means an act that would be a felony if
committed by an adult;
F. "misdemeanor" means an act that would be a
misdemeanor or petty misdemeanor if committed by an adult;
G. "restitution" means financial reimbursement by
the child to the victim or community service imposed by the
court and is limited to easily ascertainable damages for injury
to or loss of property, actual expenses incurred for medical,
psychiatric and psychological treatment for injury to a person
and lost wages resulting from physical injury, which are a
direct and proximate result of a delinquent act. "Restitution"
does not include reimbursement for damages for mental anguish,
pain and suffering or other intangible losses. As used in this
subsection, "victim" means a person who is injured or suffers
damage of any kind by an act that is the subject of a complaint
or referral to law enforcement officers or juvenile probation
authorities. Nothing contained in this definition limits or
replaces the provisions of Subsections A and B of Section
32A-2-27 NMSA 1978;
H. "serious youthful offender" means an individual
fifteen to eighteen years of age who is charged with and
indicted or bound over for trial for first degree murder. A
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"serious youthful offender" is not a delinquent child as
defined pursuant to the provisions of this section;
I. "supervised release" means the release of a
juvenile, whose term of commitment has not expired, from a
facility for the care and rehabilitation of adjudicated
delinquent children, with specified conditions to protect
public safety and promote successful transition and
reintegration into the community. A juvenile on supervised
release is subject to monitoring by the department until the
term of commitment has expired and may be returned to custody
for violating conditions of release; and
J. "youthful offender" means a delinquent child
subject to adult or juvenile sanctions who is:
(1) fourteen to eighteen years of age at the
time of the offense and who is adjudicated for at least one of
the following offenses:
(a) second degree murder, as provided in
Section 30-2-1 NMSA 1978;
(b) assault with intent to commit a
violent felony, as provided in Section 30-3-3 NMSA 1978;
(c) kidnapping, as provided in Section
30-4-1 NMSA 1978;
(d) aggravated battery, as provided in
Subsection C of Section 30-3-5 NMSA 1978;
(e) aggravated battery against a
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household member, as provided in Subsection C of Section
30-3-16 NMSA 1978;
(f) aggravated battery upon a peace
officer, as provided in Subsection C of Section 30-22-25 NMSA
1978;
(g) shooting at a dwelling or occupied
building or shooting at or from a motor vehicle, as provided in
Section 30-3-8 NMSA 1978;
(h) dangerous use of explosives, as
provided in Section 30-7-5 NMSA 1978;
(i) criminal sexual penetration, as
provided in Section 30-9-11 NMSA 1978;
(j) robbery, as provided in Section
30-16-2 NMSA 1978;
(k) aggravated burglary, as provided in
Section 30-16-4 NMSA 1978;
(l) aggravated arson, as provided in
Section 30-17-6 NMSA 1978; or
(m) abuse of a child that results in
great bodily harm or death to the child, as provided in Section
30-6-1 NMSA 1978;
(2) fourteen to eighteen years of age at the
time of the offense, who is adjudicated for any felony offense
and who has had three prior, separate felony adjudications
within a three-year time period immediately preceding the
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instant offense. The felony adjudications relied upon as prior
adjudications shall not have arisen out of the same transaction
or occurrence or series of events related in time and location.
Successful completion of consent decrees is not considered a
prior adjudication for the purposes of this paragraph; or
(3) fourteen years of age and who is
adjudicated for first degree murder, as provided in Section
30-2-1 NMSA 1978."
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