New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico House Bill HB470 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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28	28	HOUSE BILL 470
29	29	57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2025
30	30	INTRODUCED BY
31	31	Pamelya Herndon
32	32	AN ACT
33	33	RELATING TO CHILDREN; REVISING THE DEFINITION OF "NEGLECTED
34	34	CHILD" IN THE ABUSE AND NEGLECT ACT TO INCLUDE CIRCUMSTANCES
35	35	WHEN A CHILD HAS UNSUPERVISED ACCESS TO A FIREARM OR DEADLY
36	36	WEAPON.
37	37	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
38	38	SECTION 1. Section 32A-4-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993,
39	39	Chapter 77, Section 96, as amended) is amended to read:
40	40	"32A-4-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Abuse and Neglect
41	41	Act:
42	42	A. "abandonment" includes instances when the
43	43	parent, without justifiable cause:
44	44	(1) left the child without provision for the
45	45	child's identification for a period of fourteen days; or
46	46	(2) left the child with others, including the
47	47	.230707.1 underscored material = new
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74	74	other parent or an agency, without provision for support and
75	75	without communication for a period of:
76	76	(a) three months if the child was under
77	77	six years of age at the commencement of the three-month period;
78	78	or
79	79	(b) six months if the child was over six
80	80	years of age at the commencement of the six-month period;
81	81	B. "abused child" means a child:
82	82	(1) who has suffered or who is at risk of
83	83	suffering serious harm because of the action or inaction of the
84	84	child's parent, guardian or custodian;
85	85	(2) who has suffered physical abuse, emotional
86	86	abuse or psychological abuse inflicted or caused by the child's
87	87	parent, guardian or custodian;
88	88	(3) who has suffered sexual abuse or sexual
89	89	exploitation inflicted by the child's parent, guardian or
90	90	custodian;
91	91	(4) whose parent, guardian or custodian has
92	92	knowingly, intentionally or negligently placed the child in a
93	93	situation that may endanger the child's life or health; or
94	94	(5) whose parent, guardian or custodian has
95	95	knowingly or intentionally tortured, cruelly confined or
96	96	cruelly punished the child;
97	97	C. "aggravated circumstances" includes those
98	98	circumstances in which the parent, guardian or custodian has:
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127	127	(1) attempted, conspired to cause or caused
128	128	great bodily harm to the child or great bodily harm or death to
129	129	the child's sibling;
130	130	(2) attempted, conspired to cause or caused
131	131	great bodily harm or death to another parent, guardian or
132	132	custodian of the child;
133	133	(3) attempted, conspired to subject or has
134	134	subjected the child to torture, chronic abuse or sexual abuse;
135	135	or
136	136	(4) had parental rights over a sibling of the
137	137	child terminated involuntarily;
138	138	D. "deadly weapon" means an object, instrument,
139	139	substance or device:
140	140	(1) that is likely to and that is used by a
141	141	person with the intention to cause great bodily harm or death;
142	142	or
143	143	(2) with which the death of a person can be
144	144	easily and readily produced;
145	145	[D.] E. "educational decision maker" means an
146	146	individual appointed by the children's court to attend school
147	147	meetings and to make decisions about the child's education that
148	148	a parent could make under law, including decisions about the
149	149	child's educational setting, and the development and
150	150	implementation of an individual education plan for the child;
151	151	[E.] F. "fictive kin" means a person not related by
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180	180	birth, adoption or marriage with whom a child has an
181	181	emotionally significant relationship;
182	182	G. "firearm" means a weapon that will or is
183	183	designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile
184	184	by the action of an explosion; the frame or receiver of any
185	185	such weapon; or any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; and
186	186	includes a handgun, rifle or shotgun;
187	187	[F.] H. "great bodily harm" means an injury to a
188	188	person that creates a high probability of death, that causes
189	189	serious disfigurement or that results in permanent or
190	190	protracted loss or impairment of the function of a member or
191	191	organ of the body;
192	192	[G.] I. "neglected child" means a child:
193	193	(1) who has been abandoned by the child's
194	194	parent, guardian or custodian;
195	195	(2) who is without proper parental care and
196	196	control or subsistence, education, medical or other care or
197	197	control necessary for the child's well-being because of the
198	198	faults or habits of the child's parent, guardian or custodian
199	199	or the failure or refusal of the parent, guardian or custodian,
200	200	when able to do so, to provide them;
201	201	(3) who has been physically or sexually
202	202	abused, when the child's parent, guardian or custodian knew or
203	203	should have known of the abuse and failed to take reasonable
204	204	steps to protect the child from further harm;
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233	233	(4) whose parent, guardian or custodian is
234	234	unable to discharge that person's responsibilities to and for
235	235	the child because of incarceration, hospitalization or physical
236	236	or mental disorder or incapacity; [or ]
237	237	(5) who has been placed for care or adoption
238	238	in violation of the law; provided that nothing in the
239	239	Children's Code shall be construed to imply that a child who is
240	240	being provided with treatment by spiritual means alone through
241	241	prayer, in accordance with the tenets and practices of a
242	242	recognized church or religious denomination, by a duly
243	243	accredited practitioner thereof is for that reason alone a
244	244	neglected child within the meaning of the Children's Code; and
245	245	further provided that no child shall be denied the protection
246	246	afforded to all children under the Children's Code; or
247	247	(6) whose parent, guardian or custodian
248	248	negligently allows a child to have access to a firearm or other
249	249	deadly weapon while the child is not under the supervision of
250	250	the child's parent, guardian or custodian or an adult
251	251	authorized by the child's parent, guardian or custodian;
252	252	[H.] J. "physical abuse" includes any case in which
253	253	the child suffers strangulation or suffocation and any case in
254	254	which the child exhibits evidence of skin bruising, bleeding,
255	255	malnutrition, failure to thrive, burns, fracture of any bone,
256	256	subdural hematoma, soft tissue swelling or death and:
257	257	(1) there is not a justifiable explanation for
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286	286	the condition or death;
287	287	(2) the explanation given for the condition is
288	288	at variance with the degree or nature of the condition;
289	289	(3) the explanation given for the death is at
290	290	variance with the nature of the death; or
291	291	(4) circumstances indicate that the condition
292	292	or death may not be the product of an accidental occurrence;
293	293	[I.] K. "relative" means a person related to
294	294	another person by birth, adoption or marriage within the fifth
295	295	degree of consanguinity;
296	296	[J.] L. "sexual abuse" includes criminal sexual
297	297	contact, incest or criminal sexual penetration, as those acts
298	298	are defined by state law;
299	299	[K.] M. "sexual exploitation" includes:
300	300	(1) allowing, permitting or encouraging a
301	301	child to engage in prostitution;
302	302	(2) allowing, permitting, encouraging or
303	303	engaging a child in obscene or pornographic photographing; or
304	304	(3) filming or depicting a child for obscene
305	305	or pornographic commercial purposes, as those acts are defined
306	306	by state law;
307	307	[L.] N. "sibling" means a brother or sister having
308	308	one or both parents in common by birth or adoption;
309	309	[M.] O. "strangulation" has the same meaning as set
310	310	forth in Section 30-3-11 NMSA 1978;
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339	339	[N.] P. "suffocation" has the same meaning as set
340	340	forth in Section 30-3-11 NMSA 1978; and
341	341	[O.] Q. "transition plan" means an individualized
342	342	written plan for a child, based on the unique needs of the
343	343	child, that outlines all appropriate services to be provided to
344	344	the child to increase independent living skills. The plan
345	345	shall also include responsibilities of the child, and any other
346	346	party as appropriate, to enable the child to be self-sufficient
347	347	upon emancipation."
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