New Mexico courts will begin continuously monitoring the ankle devices of felony defendants in the coming months.
The changes are push toward more closely supervising defendants, with GPS tracking and a 24/7 alert system that will contact law enforcement if the defendants were to violate their boundaries or guidelines, KRQE reported. The change comes following a case in August where a defendant set to be tried for murder cut off his monitor, and law enforcement was not notified until 24 hours later.
“We know it will result in a lot quicker notification to law-enforcement and that may help them arrest someone if the judges decide they should be arrested and they’ll come in front of the judge and will find out if it’s something to be worried about or not,” Artie Pepin, the director for the Administrative Office of the Courts, told KRQE.
As part of the new monitoring system, five new employees will be hired to work overnight shifts. The Administrative Office of the Courts has already submitted a request to the legislature for extra funding for the project. Prior to the changes, monitoring was only being conducted during the day, meaning that violations that happened at night would not be detected until the next morning.