SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico legislature approved the creation of an independent ethics commission during this year's legislative session, but there are many unanswered questions about how it will work.
Lawmakers approved the framework for an ethics commission during the 60-day session that ended in March, with the assumption that its powers and procedures would defined later.
Some groups are pushing lawmakers to start talking about the details in interim legislative committee hearings this summer and fall, the Albuquerque Journal reported (http://bit.ly/2rGbkUv ) Thursday.
It is unlikely the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee will recommend legislation when it meets in coming months, said Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque.
"I think we will probably spend some time on it," Chasey said. "But the ethics commission doesn't go to voters until next year."
As currently proposed, the seven-member independent ethics commission would review complaints against elected officials and certain government employees.
Other details about the commission's day-to-day operations would have to be determined by the Legislature in 2019, if statewide voters approve a constitutional amendment creating the commission in the November 2018 general election.
The commission would have the ability to subpoena records and compel witness testimony, Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, said.
But it is not clear whether the commission would be able to initiate investigations after receiving complaints or if it could do so on its own.
New Mexico is one of eight states without an ethics commission, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.