{"id":4602,"date":"2009-05-27T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-27T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/state-auditor-probing-ags-animal-cruelty-task-force\/"},"modified":"2009-05-27T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-27T12:00:00","slug":"state-auditor-probing-ags-animal-cruelty-task-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/state-auditor-probing-ags-animal-cruelty-task-force\/","title":{"rendered":"State auditor probing AG’s animal cruelty task force"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>State Auditor Hector Balderas<\/a> is looking into whether Attorney General Gary King<\/a> is properly handling money appropriated for a task force<\/a> that has largely focused on rooting out cockfighting since the state outlawed the bloody sport in 2007.<\/p>\n

Balderas\u2019 probe was initiated by a complaint from animal-rights activist Marcy Britton, who alleges a number of illegal acts by King and others involved in the Animal Cruelty Task Force<\/a>, including the misspending of more than $77,000 appropriated by the Legislature. At the core of her allegations is a claim that the task force has no jurisdiction to lead investigations into illegal cockfighting and dog fighting, which she says the task force has done.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Balderas said in an interview that his office has directed the independent auditor conducting the AG\u2019s annual audit to look into \u201cwhether those appropriations were properly accounted for and spent properly.\u201d He said his special audit division \u201cis maintaining contact with and coordinating with the independent auditors.\u201d<\/p>\n

King spokesman Phil Sisneros, while refuting the allegations made by Britton, said the state auditor hasn\u2019t contacted the AG\u2019s office about the matter, but the AG is prepared to cooperate fully.<\/p>\n

The auditor\u2019s probe of the task force, which had not been previously disclosed publicly, is the latest in the back-and-forth between the offices of the two state watchdogs that has been in the news<\/a> recently. King has his own investigation into allegations that Balderas made improper purchases and had an employee babysit his children on state time, allegations that Balderas says are demonstrably false. In that case, the complaint was actually made to Balderas\u2019 office, but he turned it over to King to avoid the appearance of impropriety.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Balderas alleged that King might be illegally using a subpoena<\/a> for documents in the investigation of Balderas to find out what Balderas has discovered about King in the course of his own probes. At the time, Balderas refused to release information about what he is investigating that might involve King or King\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Since then, Britton has provided me with dozens of pages of documentation related to her complaint, including correspondence with the offices of the AG and auditor. It was in that context that Balderas recently confirmed the probe of Britton\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n

Balderas is still not releasing information about other investigations involving King or King\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

More about the task force<\/span><\/p>\n

The animal cruelty task force was created in 2007 by the Legislature and governor. It\u2019s chaired by King, run by the organization Animal Protection of New Mexico<\/a> and funded by a legislative appropriation that is controlled by the AG\u2019s office. One of the missions of the task force is to \u201cenhance and coordinate the enforcement of animal cruelty laws in New Mexico by facilitating inter-agency cooperation.\u201d It\u2019s in that context that Britton alleges that the task force and King have crossed a legal line.<\/p>\n

The AG and task force have no jurisdiction to lead investigations into illegal cockfighting or other animal cruelty, crimes that should be handled by local law enforcement, Britton said in an interview. She said she believes the task force has operated well beyond its authority and, in doing so, has violated the rights of defendants and the law enforcement agencies that should be investigating the potential crimes.<\/p>\n

Among her complaints is that the AG is paying Animal Protection to run the task force\u2019s hotline and help in other ways without a proper contract.<\/p>\n

Britton said she believes the AG\u2019s motive is earning political favor from the animal-rights community, but King\u2019s \u201cflagrant\u201d disregard for the law should lead to his removal from office. Sisneros, meanwhile, said it appears that Britton \u201chas fabricated a story or scenario that does not relate in fact to our relationship with the Animal Cruelty Task Force.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sisneros said some of the money appropriated by the Legislature has been spent on trainings for law enforcement officers and prosecutors on dealing with illegal dog fighting and cockfighting. Some has been spent on a related manual that will be available to law enforcement agencies and the public.<\/p>\n

The majority of the $77,900 appropriation — nearly $50,000 — will likely remain unspent and will revert back to the state\u2019s general fund, Sisneros said.<\/p>\n

A prior version of this posting incorrectly stated that Animal Protection Voters New Mexico — not Animal Protection of New Mexico — runs the task force.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Auditor Hector Balderas is looking into whether Attorney General Gary King is properly handling money appropriated for a task force that has largely focused on rooting out cockfighting since the state outlawed the bloody sport in 2007. Balderas\u2019 probe was initiated by a complaint from animal-rights activist Marcy Britton, who alleges a number of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4602","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=4602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}