{"id":38492,"date":"2012-03-30T08:13:19","date_gmt":"2012-03-30T14:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=38492"},"modified":"2012-04-02T07:03:27","modified_gmt":"2012-04-02T13:03:27","slug":"clerk-disqualifies-both-magistrate-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/03\/clerk-disqualifies-both-magistrate-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Clerk disqualifies both magistrate candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_38493\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 270px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38493\" title=\"Ellins, Lynn\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Ellins-Lynn1.jpg\" alt=\"Do\u00f1a Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins\" width=\"270\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Ellins-Lynn1.jpg 270w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Ellins-Lynn1-32x32.jpg 32w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Do\u00f1a Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>A state statute requires magistrate judges in counties with more than 200,000 residents to be attorneys. Neither who filed for an open seat in Do\u00f1a Ana County \u2013 which topped 200,000 in 2010 \u2013 is a lawyer. At least one plans to challenge the law.<\/h4>\n<p>This year\u2019s magistrate judge race in Do\u00f1a Ana County may be without any major-party candidates after Clerk <a href=\"http:\/\/www.donaanacounty.org\/clerk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lynn Ellins<\/a> disqualified both who filed because they aren\u2019t attorneys.<\/p>\n<p>Ellins did that because, as of <a href=\"http:\/\/quickfacts.census.gov\/qfd\/states\/35\/35013.html\" target=\"_blank\">the 2010 Census<\/a>, the county\u2019s population is over the 200,000 threshold that triggers a state law that requires magistrate judges to be attorneys.<\/p>\n<p>At least one of the candidates plans to ask the N.M. Supreme Court to overrule the clerk\u2019s decision and the law.<\/p>\n<p>At issue is a longstanding debate in Do\u00f1a Ana County about whether magistrate judges should have to be lawyers as the county\u2019s population center, Las Cruces, grows. The situation raises questions not only about whether non-attorneys can run for the position this year, but about the future of the three current magistrate judges who aren\u2019t lawyers.<\/p>\n<p>No Republicans filed to run for the open seat on the court, but Democrats Paul A. Martinez and Keith E. LaMonica filed declarations of candidacy last week. Neither is a lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>Martinez has hired an attorney and said he plans to file a writ of mandamus with the Supreme Court challenging the law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLegislative intent was never to make magistrate judges licensed attorneys. It was always the people\u2019s court,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n<p>Magistrate positions are normally up for election in the same years as the governor, but the November <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/11\/magistrate-garcia-stepping-down-to-avoid-discipline\/\" target=\"_blank\">resignation of Democrat Olivia Nevarez Garcia<\/a> created the Division 3 vacancy that\u2019s on the ballot this year.<\/p>\n<p>Though the filing day to run in the Democratic and Republican primaries has passed, that doesn\u2019t mean there won\u2019t be any candidates for the position on the November ballot if Ellins is successful in disqualifying the two Democrats. June 26 is the deadline for independent, minor-party and write-in candidates.<\/p>\n<p>But if Ellins\u2019 ruling stands, those candidates will have to be attorneys.<\/p>\n<h3>Martinez pushed metro court; Nu\u00f1ez led opposition<\/h3>\n<p>Until recently, state law mandated the creation of a metro court \u2013 which would require judges to be attorneys \u2013 to replace magistrate and municipal courts when a county reached a population of 200,000. Only Bernalillo County was above that threshold.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>For a decade prior to the 2010 Census, as Do\u00f1a Ana County\u2019s population approached 200,000, officials in the area began debating what to do. Gov. <a href=\"http:\/\/governor.state.nm.us\" target=\"_blank\">Susana Martinez<\/a>, who was district attorney at the time, pushed the creation of a metro court system, saying all judges should be attorneys. Many Democrats opposed her efforts.<\/p>\n<p>The reality is that much of Do\u00f1a Ana County has become urban \u2013 Las Cruces is the state\u2019s second largest city \u2013 but much of it remains quite rural.<\/p>\n<p>The opposition to a metro court has been led in the Legislature by Rep. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HNUNE\" target=\"_blank\">Andy Nu\u00f1ez<\/a>, a Democrat-turned-independent from Hatch, who says the law was not intended to require that a rural community like his be part of a metro court system.<\/p>\n<p>Hatch is a rural farming community of about 1,700 people located some 40 miles from Las Cruces in far north Do\u00f1a Ana County.<\/p>\n<p>A bill Nu\u00f1ez sponsored in 2010, which then-Gov. Bill Richardson signed, raised the population requirement for a metro court system <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/_session.aspx?chamber=H&amp;legtype=B&amp;legno=%20229&amp;year=10\" target=\"_blank\">from 200,000 to 250,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But a second statute, which required magistrate judges in counties with a population of 200,000 or more to be lawyers, remained. In 2011, the Legislature passed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/_session.aspx?chamber=H&amp;legtype=B&amp;legno=%20275&amp;year=11\" target=\"_blank\">a second Nu\u00f1ez bill<\/a> that would have raised that requirement to 250,000. But Martinez, who was governor by then, pocket vetoed the bill.<\/p>\n<p>So the threshold in that statute remains at 200,000. Do\u00f1a Ana County\u2019s official population in 2010 was 209,233.<\/p>\n<h3>AG agrees with clerk\u2019s position<\/h3>\n<p>Letters Ellins sent to both candidates last week (<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/Documents\/03.22.12.MagistrateLetter1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/Documents\/03.22.12.MagistrateLetter2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>) inquiring about whether they were lawyers cite that statute. Ellins sent follow-up letters this week formally disqualifying both, telling them their names are not \u201cqualified to be placed on the June 5, 2012 Primary Election Ballot as a Democrat Party candidate for the office of Magistrate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ellins told NMPolitics.net he expects LaMonica to join Martinez in challenging his decision.<\/p>\n<p>Kenneth Ortiz, the secretary of state\u2019s chief of staff, said his office asked the attorney general for an opinion. Assistant Attorney General Tania Maestas \u201cadvised us that she agreed with the county\u2019s position,\u201d Ortiz said.<\/p>\n<p>If Ellins is successful, Paul Martinez said he finds it unlikely that the magistrate race will draw lots of interest. He said there are only three lawyers who serve as magistrate judges in the state. One of them, Conrad Perea, serves in Do\u00f1a Ana County.<\/p>\n<h3>What about the current judges?<\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s another issue to consider: If Ellins is right, would that mean the other three magistrate judges in Do\u00f1a Ana County, who are not lawyers, are no longer qualified to serve? If so, would they have to resign immediately? Or would they simply not be eligible to seek re-election in 2014?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this does need to be challenged, so it rests with the Supreme Court to decide whether the sitting magistrates can run for re-election, because they\u2019re in limbo,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A state statute requires magistrate judges in counties with more than 200,000 residents to be attorneys. Neither who filed for an open seat in Do\u00f1a Ana County \u2013 which topped 200,000 in 2010 \u2013 is a lawyer. At least one plans to challenge the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[156,115,161],"class_list":["post-38492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2012-election","tag-dona-ana-county","tag-judiciary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}