Secretary Gregg Marcantel

STATE News:

Secretary Gregg Marcantel has been re-confirmed as the New Mexico Corrections Department Secretary by the New Mexico Senate.

“I am humbled and honored to continue to serve the people of New Mexico and under the leadership of the Governor,” Marcantel said.

Secretary Marcantel touted several accomplishments during the past three years, but specifically highlighted his handling of the early release issues that plagued the department in years past.

“We simply didn’t have a good system to check and make sure inmates were really supposed to be released when we were letting them out the door,” Marcantel told the Senate Rules Committee. “I absolutely will not accept this, and neither did the people you and I serve. Under my leadership we have created the Offender Management Bureau, which is tasked with auditing each and every inmate file before they leave prison to ensure offenders are serving the time they owe. We also went back and audited files of inmates released since 2006 to ensure accuracy and accountability. I will stand for nothing less from our prison system, and neither do the taxpayers.”

Secretary Marcantel has also spearheaded the agency’s reduction in the use of segregation, implemented a policy that requires inmates to participate in education services, and held private partners fiscally accountable for missed goals or deadlines. All of these things have increased public safety and made the agency better stewards of taxpayer money.

His next goals include implementing an off-the-counter offender tracking and assessment program to continue to insure the department has no early releases and is rehabilitating

offenders for their specific needs. The executive believes strongly in this IT program and has dedicated money to this important purchase. The Secretary and his team will continue to press the Legislative Finance Committee to support the measure. Other criminal justice committees have also backed the purchase.