Accused DWI drivers back on New Mexico roads after officer no-shows
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – When suspected drunk drivers refuse a breath test or blow above the limit, law enforcement officers are required by law to take away the driver’s license. But data reveals that after revoking licenses, officers frequently failed to show up to administrative hearings, meaning hundreds of accused intoxicated drivers got to stay on the road.
KRQE News 13 obtained data from the Administrative Hearings Office. It reveals that of 2,737 cases heard in 2023, law enforcement officers failed to show up to 1,090 of them. And when an officer fails to show, the case is rescinded, and the accused get their license back.
The process for taking away someone’s license is separate from a criminal DWI case. State law requires police officers to take away drivers’ licenses if drivers are over the legal limit or they refuse to take a breathalyzer test. When that happens, an officer keeps the driver’s license and issues a temporary license that is only valid for 20 days or until they are scheduled for an administrative hearing. At that hearing, a hearing officer reviews the case and determines if the driver should lose their license.
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“When a police officer appears to testify, given the related preponderance standard, the person’s license is revoked in approximately 80-85% of cases, and the driver is required to get an ignition interlock device,” Brian VanDenzen, the chief hearing officer, says. “However, if the officer (or necessary officers) fail to appear at hearing where the diver did appear, then MVD has no witnesses to present its evidence, is unable to carry its burden of proof under the Implied Consent Act, and the proposed license revocation is rescinded.”
In 2023, Albuquerque Police Department officers failed to show up to 50% of their 470 administrative hearings. And the department had similar numbers going back to at least 2018, data from the Administrative Hearings Office shows. AHO told KRQE that despite their best efforts to help officers plan for hearings, APD often sends last-minute emails asking for scheduling changes.
KRQE News 13 asked APD what the department has done to make sure officers attend the mandatory meetings. APD did not comment.
Some smaller departments had far fewer cases overall but failed to show up to nearly every single one. For example, the Aztec Police Department was involved in 69 administrative hearings for license revocations from 2018 to 2023; they only showed up to eight of those, the data shows.
Some police departments did show up to the vast majority of their hearings. The Santa Fe Police Department showed up to 81% of their 698 cases from 2018 to 2023. Mora County Sheriff’s Office showed up to all 13 of their cases over the six-year period.
Statewide, with all law enforcement agencies combined, over 7,000 cases were rescinded due to officers failing to appear from 2018 to 2023. That’s 41% of all the cases the Administrative Hearings Office heard over that time.
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Data from AHO shows the number of cases rescinded due to officers failing to appear.
VanDenzen says the Administrative Hearings Office issues subpoenas to officers to let them know they need to attend. But there are challenges to getting officers to show up.
“Police officers face many challenges every day even beyond their on-the-street law enforcement activities, including a large docket of court cases, trainings, report writing, and other administrative duties,” VanDenzen told KRQE. “To that end, AHO [the Administrative Hearings Office] has a long history of trying to facilitate police officer participation and attendance at these hearings. When AHO schedules every case, AHO’s Scheduling Unit works extremely hard to schedule a case around conflict information provided to it to the fullest extent possible within the confines of the 90-day hearing requirements.”
The Administrative Hearings Office even tries to schedule multiple hearings involving the same officer all on one date to make it easier for the officer to attend each meeting. And the Administrative Hearings Office not only sends out mailed notifications but also tries to send electronic notices directly to police officers, VanDenzen tells KRQE.
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Still, the attendance numbers show the system doesn’t always work. And the issues are nothing new. In the past, the Administrative Hearings Office tried scheduling hearings in the evening to boost attendance.
“That pilot program did not significantly improve officer attendance and was discontinued after receiving many complaints from hearing participants and especially police officers,” VanDenzen says.
Officers struggling to show up to hearings is nothing new. In 2012, KRQE investigative reporter Larry Barker discovered that from 2003 to 2012, more than 14,000 people accused of drunk driving got to keep their licenses due to officers failing to appear. After that story, lawmakers considered allowing officers to appear via video – a 2017 bill to do that failed to gain traction, but the COVID-19 pandemic did bring video hearings.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hearings became completely remote. But “there was no meaningful statistical change in officer attendance at videoconference or telephonic hearings,” VanDenzen says.
Despite all the challenges, VanDenzen says AHO has seen some progress come from holding training sessions with law enforcement agencies. “Officers who attend these trainings tend to appear more frequently for hearings since they have been educated on the importance of the hearings,” VanDenzen explains.
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