Oct. 11 – All five New Mexico Supreme Court justices – and one person previously appointed as a trustee – recused themselves from presiding over a legal dispute between the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Treasury Department.
There remain two powers of attorney, but it was unclear on Friday who is handling the case about compensation for judicial employees.
This case concerns how much paid time off government employees can carry over from year to year and what rate they are reimbursed for that time.
Under the state’s status quo, paid leave accrual is limited to 240 hours, and employees who choose to be compensated for unused time when they resign or retire will only receive 50% of their pay for each unused hour , according to a statement recently issued. month by the Administrative Service of the Courts.
The judiciary last year adopted a new policy that combined sick leave and vacation time, eliminated the cap on hours — instead tying the number of hours eligible for payout to an employee’s years of service — and allowed employees who chose to participate participate in a buyback, reimbursed at 100% of their wages.
The Treasury Department processed the payouts for about a year in accordance with the judiciary’s new policy, but stopped after Attorney General Raúl Torrez issued a legal opinion in June saying the practice was illegal and in violation with financial restrictions on the expenditure of government money. imposed by the legislature.
The Administrative Office of the Courts subsequently filed a petition asking the state Supreme Court to compel the Department of Finance and Administration to process payments in accordance with the new policy, arguing in part that the denial violates the judicial authority power to decide on its own personnel matters. an independent branch of government.
Supreme Court Justice David K. Thomson and Judge Shannon C. Bacon recused themselves from hearing the case on September 30, the same day the petition was filed. Judge Briana Zamora recused herself on October 1.
Judge Michael E. Vigil and Judge Julie J. Vargas recused themselves Friday — as did Appeals Court Judge Kristina Bogardus — after the Finance Department said in a lawsuit that no sitting judge at any level should hear the case to deal with.
Bogardus was one of three justices — the others were retired Justice Richard Bosson and retired Justice Edward L. Chávez — whom the Supreme Court appointed to replace the first three justices who had recused themselves.
“Service of all non-retired judges and justices is necessary because the petition raises an issue that has a direct impact on current and future judges and justices and their employees and potential employees, and is mandated by the Code of Judicial Conduct and constitutional requirements for due process.” Lawyers for the state agency wrote in the response.
That leaves only Bosson and Chávez, both retired, to handle the case.
“We have not received any new designation orders to replace the judicial officers who have incriminated themselves,” Administrative Office of the Courts spokesperson Beth Wojahn wrote in an email on Friday.
The judiciary’s approval of a PTO policy that “violates the law and misuses taxpayer dollars remains a major public concern,” Henry Valdez, spokesman for the Department of Finance and Administration, wrote in an email Friday.
“A fair and impartial panel of judges is essential to review and decide AOC’s lawsuit against the state, as it continues to pose a serious constitutional threat to the system of checks and balances,” he wrote.
