NM Supreme Court Denies petition by Greg White. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com The Supreme Court of the State of New Mexico has denied a petition by Los Alamos resident Greg White for a writ of prohibition against the Los Alamos County Council and the Incorporated County of Los Alamos that requested the Court to exercise jurisdiction. The petition, filed Oct. 17, listed Los Alamos County Sheriff Marco Lucero as an interested party.
The petition asked the Court to prohibit the Council from “neutering” his sheriff and to stop the Council from harassing the sheriff until the Court heard White’s case. He also asked the Court to mandate the Council to restore the “statutorily required” undersheriff and executive secretary and order the County’s human resources department to recognize as required by statute that they are “not merit system employees”.
White’s third request was that the Council amend the FY2018 budget to add $225,000 to the sheriff’s office for salaries, provide ongoing training at the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, modern two-way radios and a county-owned patrol vehicle “equipped as any other sheriff in the state has”. He alleged that when the sheriff’s staff was cut and when his budget was cut to “only his salary and a stipend for odds and ends and mileage”, the Council was “effectively neutering him and tying him to his desk like a dog”.
Supreme Court Justices Petra Jimenez Maes, Edward L. Chavez and Barbara J. Vigil concurred on the denial and the case has been closed.
