Section 33-9-7 - State selection panel.
33-9-7. State selection panel.
A. The department shall establish a state panel whose duties shall be to immediately screen and identify criminal offenders sentenced to imprisonment in a correctional facility of the department, except individuals sentenced or transferred from a judicial district which has established a local panel to exercise these duties pursuant to the provisions of Section 33-9-8 NMSA 1978, who meet the following criteria:
(1) the crime involved is one for which community service or reasonable restitution may be made using a payment schedule compatible with the total amount of restitution to be paid and the time the offender is to participate in a program; and
(2) the offender is willing to enter into a contract which establishes objectives which shall be achieved before release from the program.
B. The department may establish criteria in addition to those established in Subsection A of this section for the screening of criminal offenders who would benefit from participation in a program and who would not pose a threat to the community.
C. If the state panel determines that a criminal offender is suitable for placement in a program, a recommendation to that effect and for modification of sentence shall be presented as soon as possible to the sentencing judge who may, notwithstanding any provision of law, accept, modify or reject the recommendation. The sentencing judge's determination shall be presented to the county, municipality or private nonprofit organization, as applicable, for approval or rejection. In no event shall the sentencing judge order to be placed into a program any criminal offender whom the state selection panel has not approved.