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Board Rejects Appeals Of New Mexico Attorney General Firings

Hector Balderas

The New Mexico State Personnel Board has rejected appeals by 20 former employees of the state Attorney General's Office seeking to get their jobs back.

Officials say the board on Thursday upheld an administrative law judge's recent ruling that Attorney General Hector Balderas had the authority to fire the workers and recommended that the State Personnel Office allow the firings to stand.

Balderas fired the workers when he took office last January.

The ex-workers appealed their terminations to the State Personnel Board, arguing the State Personnel Act protects their positions.

The administrative law judge said the board doesn't have jurisdiction to consider appeals because a specific state law on appointments by the attorney general governed the office's personnel matters.

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