A New Mexico House panel is set to consider a proposal that would tighten eligibility rules for all sheriffs in the state.
The House Safety and Civil Affairs Committee is scheduled Thursday to debate a bill that would call for sheriffs to have at least seven years of professional experience in law enforcement.
Under the proposal, sheriffs cannot have been convicted on a felony and must be a certified law enforcement officer.
The New Mexico Sheriff's Association supports the changes.
Current state law allows anyone to run for sheriff.
The move comes after former Rio Arriba County Sheriff Thomas Rodella was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for abusing a driver in a bizarre, off-duty traffic stop that prosecutors described as a fit of road rage.
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