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Five New Mexico lawmakers want the state attorney general to establish a task force focused on missing and murdered Indigenous people.
They鈥檝e made the request via , which they introduced this week. The memorial puts on display the disagreement some lawmakers have with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham鈥檚 last year of a task force dedicated to finding solutions to what鈥檚 been identified as a . Indigenous women in the state, according to the memorial, have the highest homicide rate among all ethnic groups.
Because this year鈥檚 30-day session is reserved for putting together the state budget in addition to whatever priorities the governor pinpoints, the lawmakers were limited to proposing a memorial, which is not legally binding.
Task force members the governor鈥檚 disbanding of their group last year, telling New Mexico In Depth in October their work was just beginning. The decision 鈥渓eft questions unanswered,鈥� the memorial reads.
The Indian Affairs Department, which housed the group, held the final meeting last May, just a few months after several members Lujan Grisham鈥檚 appointment of James Mountain to lead the agency.
Mountain was indicted on charges of criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and aggravated battery against a household member in 2008, although the case was later dismissed because the prosecution said it had insufficient evidence. He a month ago, less than a year after his appointment, to become the governor鈥檚 senior policy advisor for tribal affairs.
Officials have maintained they stopped convening the task force because it had met its objectives and they say the Indian Affairs Department is picking up where it left off.
But Sen. Shannon Pinto, D-Tohatchi, one of the memorial鈥檚 sponsors, said she wants to ensure state agencies are held accountable in their response to the crisis.
The new group would be charged with updating a delivered in 2022 and providing 鈥渙ngoing legislative recommendations.鈥�
Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, another sponsor, said she believes the defunct task force 鈥渟till is very important and central to a lot of the movement that we have had over the last few years.鈥�
In November, the governor created an advisory council that, according to a news release, will support the state鈥檚 efforts in carrying forward the response plan. Lujan Grisham appointed Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. Jenelle Roybal and Picuris Gov. Craig Quanchello to lead the group. Additional members haven鈥檛 been announced.
Lopez, at a of the interim Indian Affairs Committee, said advisory councils 鈥済et buried in state government.鈥�
鈥淎dvisory councils are good. They do have a role in which they advise the secretary,鈥� Lopez said in an interview Monday. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not inclusive of community. And I鈥檓 hoping that there will be a way for communication between the task force and the advisory council.鈥�
The memorial instructs the attorney general to appoint no more than 40 members, including Indigenous survivors and affected families, tribal leaders, service providers and law enforcement. The attorney general would serve as chair, unless he designated someone else.
Those membership guidelines are lifted from an Lujan Grisham issued in 2021, which created the previous task force. Lopez said she hopes at least some of the past members would be included in the new group.
Asked how she and her colleagues landed on the attorney general鈥檚 office as the proposed new home for the task force, Pinto said other states have created similar groups overseen by their attorneys general. The move makes sense to her, Pinto said, in part because the attorney general works with many jurisdictions. A lack of coordination among jurisdictions is a common roadblock in getting justice for missing or murdered Indigenous people.
The Senate Rules Committee will weigh in on the memorial first. It hasn鈥檛 yet been scheduled.
