ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — KOB 4 received an inside look into the Metropolitan Court of Bernalillo County as they had another packed docket Saturday morning.

 “We are the busiest courthouse in the state. We see more than every other courthouse does, from the traffic tickets to the misdemeanor cases and the initial felony cases that are filed here,” Chief Judge Joshua Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the court oversees about 100 cases a day. They received a visit Saturday from New Mexico’s top judge, Chief Justice David Thomson of the New Mexico Supreme Court. He wanted to get a firsthand look at the court’s caseload.

Sanchez welcomed the visit.

“We go to these statewide meetings, and they hear about how things happen. But until you actually kind of sit there with another judge and see what happens, it’s kind of eye-opening to see the kind of controlled chaos that we have on a Saturday morning,” he said about the visit.

Sanchez added their biggest challenge at Metro Court is the case load. Thomson said he plans to visit other courts statewide to see these challenges for himself.

“I think it’s a good idea just to come down and see it. And what you see, if you watch these, is you see all the interactions between what we face, just not as a court system, as a society, right?” Thomson said.

Just from observing one morning, Thomson said it’s clear mental health plays a huge part in a lot of the cases.

“If there are questions of competency, can we catch those questions here, rather when they get transferred to felony court? That’s one. Can they be assessed early on?” he said.

Thomson also noticed a lot of repeat offenders.

“I think it’s very helpful to see it firsthand. On a few of these individuals. I’ve actually asked to look at some of the criminal history, so I have an understanding of the particulars,” he said.

Sanchez said he hopes for more visits like this in the future.

“It’s just nice to give some real perspective. It validates a lot of the things that we do communicate to AOC and the Supreme Court and things that we’re seeing,” he said.