By Ella J. Siegrist, Jenna L. Dole, Kristine Denman, Ashleigh Maus, Joel Robinson, Callie Dorsey, and Graham White

In November 2016, New Mexico voters approved a constitutional amendment altering pretrial release and bail practices for felony cases within the state. As part of a multi-phase study, this report evaluates the implementation of bail reform thus far. We primarily used information from stakeholder interviews; this was supplemented with court observations, media coverage, and legal documents. In this report, we document the current pretrial process; the way that pretrial release and detention decisions are made; the perceived impact of the amendment; reform success and areas for improvement; and recommendations for how New Mexico and other states may improve pretrial practices.

Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center. Institute for Social Research, 2020. 131p.