By KRWG News
Santa Fe, NM – A bill that would keep domestic violence offenders from becoming police officers in New Mexico has passed the State House of Representatives.
The measure, sponsored by Las Cruces Democratic Representative Nathan Cote, passed the house 63 to nothing.
The bill was amended in the House Judiciary Committee to decrease the ban from lifetime to within three years of a violation.
Albuquerque Democratic Representative Al Park, the Judiciary Chairman says, "we want to make sure that we don't penalize someone who's made an errant mistake or done something wrong when they're 18, 19, 20 years old for the rest of their life when they come back and they rehabilitate themselves and prove themselves to be an excellent member of society. We want to give them that opportunity. We want to give our law enforcement the opportunity to vet those candidates so that they can really have the best and the brightest recruits, to make sure that every citizen in the state of New Mexico is safe."
The measure now heads to the State Senate.