Backlog: 65K outstanding misdemeanor warrants in Bernalillo County
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There are 5,232 outstanding felony warrants in Bernalillo County right now, according to the sheriff’s office.
That does not mean there are that many people with felony warrants.
Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina said some people have multiple warrants.
“When they arrest somebody on a new charge, vast majority of the time, that person already had a warrant,” Medina said.
There are also reportedly more than 65,000 outstanding misdemeanor warrants in the county.
“The mayor mentioned the warrant challenge and I’ll tell you, from the U.S. Marshals Service, we’re up to that challenge,” said Sonya Chavez, New Mexico’s U.S. Marshal.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller says help is what the city needs, and with a band of new faces in new positions – there seems to be a path forward that will lead to results.
“We’re going to go up to Santa Fe together, this unity that you see is what our city needs,” Keller said. “To also say that we have to be able to fund and have the resources to actually make sure all those warrants are served and those dangerous individuals are taken off the street.”
The legislative session starts Jan. 18.
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