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County Jail Packed

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The Dona Ana County Detention Center in Las Cruces has not been accepting some nonviolent offenders in the past few weeks because it doesn't have room.

Instead, authorities have been issuing citations for such crimes as littering, being a public nuisance, trespassing, possessing less than an ounce of marijuana, gambling, driving without a license or insurance and low-dollar amounts of fraud or shoplifting.

The detention center's deputy director, Samuel Heredia, says the southern New Mexico jail still takes people who would be a threat to the public.

For example, it took a belligerent man who stole a $25 bottle of tequila because he was on probation for felony charges.

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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.