io Arriba County’s coffers are not overflowing with money. The fact that the nursing facility’s progress has been slow because of a lack of funds is proof of that. Yet one interim employee is raking in the dough, while catching some ZZZZs on the clock.
A photo of interim jail administrator Adeline Martinez was obtained by us and it was posted on a Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. It shows her with her feet propped on a desk, hands tucked into her safety vest and her eyes closed. She appears to be taking a snooze while a computer monitor, showing various areas of the jail sits before her on the desk.
An Inspection of Public Records request submitted to Rio Arriba County for Martinez’s time sheets from August 2024 to May shows that she worked tons of overtime — 12 and sometimes up to 16 hours a day. Not only did she get OT pay, but she used many sick time hours in conjunction to that. She made thousands of dollars in overtime pay, but we have to wonder if she was really performing her duties during that time, or if she was taking it easy and napping on company time.
An email sent to Rio Arriba County Manager Jeremy Maestas shortly after we obtained the photo, inquiring about whether Martinez had been caught sleeping before, yielded no answers. Instead, he refused to comment and said he was looking into the situation.
Another email sent last week, was equally unfruitful. He simply said “Yes I did look into the matter further, and I am in the process of addressing it. Thanks.”
How he’s addressing it is anyone’s guess, but we surmise that she will receive a slap on the wrist and it will be business as usual. Given the issues that the Rio Arriba County Detention Center has faced, we’d hope that the county administration would take such an act more seriously.
There have been several overdoses, deaths and drugs at the facility. Recognizing that, Sheriff Billy Merrifield led a raid there in December because of the issues. At least two guards were put on leave afterward.
All detention officers should be diligent when it comes to their job duties; they are dealing with inmates on a daily basis who are in jail for a reason.
A jail administrator, who is in charge of the facility and all the employees, should be even more diligent. That person should lead by example and if they cannot do that, they should be replaced — interim or not.
At this time, Martinez is an interim administrator. Let’s hope it stays that way. The job is currently being advertised, after former jail administrator Jose Gallegos was let go. It’s not clear if she applied for the job and given what we know so far, we hope she hasn’t.
The County Commissioners and county manager need to take heed of what’s happening at the jail. The next jail administrator needs to be chosen wisely or risk more deaths and lawsuits. The RACDC needs an administrator who will take the job seriously and try to make positive changes instead of catching up on beauty sleep while getting paid time-and-a-half.