By Michael Walton
SUN Staff Writer
The interim Española police chief has directed city police officers to file all traffic citations written within city limits in municipal court after it was discovered several officers had been filing citations into county magistrate courts.
State law gives municipal police officers the ability to file criminal complaints against individuals in a municipal court when that court has jurisdiction over an alleged offense, but in a public safety committee meeting earlier this month interim police chief Stephen Branch told city councilors some of his officers choose instead to file traffic tickets in either Rio Arriba County or Santa Fe County magistrate courts.
Branch said Tuesday the matter had already been resolved when he raised it at the meeting earlier this month. All city police officers now follow a directive instructing them to file traffic tickets administered within city limits in the city’s own court, Branch said.
The interim chief did not have a direct answer as to why some officers had been filing tickets in magistrate courts.
“It’s officers discretion to do that,” Branch said, “For one reason or another that’s what some (officers) wanted to do.”
Regardless of why this occurred, the officers who chose to do it cost the city money, Branch said.
In addition to surrendering citation fines and fees to county coffers, officers who filed citations written in parts of the city located in Santa Fe County in the Santa Fe Magistrate Court (located more than 25 miles outside city limits) cost the city in terms of vehicle wear and tear; gas money; and in some cases, overtime hours.
“So you can see the cost-effective answer is to send everything to the municipal court,” Branch said. “We need to think smarter about how we spend our money.”
Branch said officers will continue to file traffic citations resulting in felony charges, such as drug possession or certain instances of DWI, in magistrate courts, as dictated by state law.
City councilor Peggy Sue Martinez, a member of the council’s public safety committee, agreed with Branch’s cost-saving analysis.
She also offered a theory as to why some officers had decided to file citations in magistrate courts. Martinez said the issue had come up numerous times during city council discussions and said she thought some sort of conflict between officers and Municipal Judge Stephen Salazar was to blame.
“I really think, obviously, this is an issue between officers and the judge,” she said, “If they are citing someone in city limits and filing the citations out of the municipality, it’s obvious.”
Martinez added she did not know what sort of problems might exist between police and the judge, but she said she was glad all municipal citations will now be filed with Salazar’s court, leading to more funding for the city.
Martinez also doubted Salazar’s actions on the bench had anything to do with officers choosing to file their citations elsewhere.
“He is there to follow the letter of the law, especially now because he is being so closely scrutinized,” she said.
Martinez was referring to a Judicial Standards Commission investigation into two separate acts of willful misconduct conducted by Salazar while serving as municipal judge. The Commission found Salazar helped a man locate a domestic violence victim in 2007 and issued an illegal ex parte order in 2010 telling a towing company to release a motorcycle belonging to David Vigil, the son of a member of Salazar’s church.
Salazar appeared before the state Supreme Court Wednesday (7/18) for sentencing. The judge faced a maximum 90-day suspension without pay. The results of this hearing were not available as of press time,
Salazar refused to comment for this article Monday.
Rio Arriba Magistrate Court Judge Joe Madrid said he had no problem with officers filing all municipal citations in municipal court, but also said he was happy to hear such cases in his own courtroom, too.
“I’ve had a few (municipal traffic citations); it doesn’t bother me,” Madrid said. “I even told Judge Steve I would help handle some of his cases if needed.”
Madrid stipulated his court can only handle citations resulting from violations of state statute. All tickets written based on city ordinances must go before the municipal court.