CITY OF GRANTS, N.M. – Over the last few weeks, we have been exploring the nuances of the Grants City Charter; we’ve discovered that the charter is a restriction on the powers of the mayor, city council, and city manager. The charter was established by, and for the people of the City of Grants, and in order to secure the posterity of the city, amendments to the charter are ordered to be passed through an election of the qualified voters of the city, this is to ensure that the city does not grow their power outside the binds of the charter without the consent of the people they govern.
In last week’s edition of the Cibola Citizen, we discussed the city manager and the mayor. The Citizen had several phone calls asking about one provision of the story that declared the city manager must be hired on their professional qualifications. To clear up that confusion, this does not necessarily mean the education or work experience of any potential manager, rather, this means that the city council is not allowed to discriminate against any candidate based on race, sex, gender, religion, creed, or any other outlier.
This week we will explore Article IV, made up of five sections and a series of subsections, this is one of the shorter articles in the charter.
Article IV: Municipal Judge
Section One: Creation; Powers; Duties
Subsection A is made up of one sentence and three clauses. This first clause declares that the City of Grants must have a municipal judge; the second clause declares that the municipal judge must be elected; the third clause allows the city to have more than one municipal judge if the city council deems necessary. If the city council does deem this necessary, they must pass and enact an ordinance creating the new municipal judgeship, because of the second clause in this subsection, that new judge must also be elected.
Subsection B declares the powers of the municipal judge. The first clause establishes that the office of the municipal judge will make up the judicial branch of the city government; the second clause authorizes the municipal judge to exercise all powers granted to their office by the constitution and laws of New Mexico; the third clause establishes that the municipal judge will have complete jurisdiction over the offenses to the law or violations to the ordinances of the city, allowing the city to self-govern by having first say over criminals in their jurisdiction; the fourth and final clause to this subsection establishes some restrictions to the office of the municipal judge: The municipal judge may issue subpoenas, warrants, and punishments for violations of the law.
Subsection C declares that the municipal judge must watch for any violations of compliance to the charter. This is the same provision placed on both the mayor and city manager, it ensures that there are multiple people paying attention to the charter, so it is not violated. This came into play in 2018 when current Municipal Judge Elise Larson successfully challenged the constitutionality of this charter’s term-limits clause in Article II Section 2(D). The New Mexico State Supreme Court declared term limits unconstitutional, using this precedent set by the highest court in the state, Larson was able to have this repealed in 2020 (this is also why the mayor and city manager would open every meeting of the city council by declaring that the city was in violation of the charter), the council repealed that provision by resolution. This poses additional legal questions because this same charter declares any amendments to it must be passed through an election, this is declared in the second paragraph of the preamble. As we discussed a few weeks ago in our exploration of Article II, the city is looking into whether this change needs to be placed on a ballot.
Section Two: Qualifications
Section two is a single paragraph containing two clauses, the first restricts who may run to fill a municipal judgeship, the other poses no restrictions on the city government, giving them an open door for control over specific aspects in the election of a municipal judge.
The first clause establishes that any person running for the office of Municipal Judge must be a qualified elector of the city. This means they must reside in the city and be eligible to vote in the city’s elections.
The second clause allows the city council to impose other necessary qualifications for a person to run for the municipal judgeship. The only restriction to a person’s candidacy that is codified (specified) in the charter, is that they must be a qualified elector, this clause allows the city government to create other restrictions or specifications before a person can run for the office so long as they remain lawful as according to the rules and laws of the State of New Mexico.
Section Three: Term of Office and Salary
Subsection A is made up of the Term clause, this clause establishes that the municipal judge will be elected to a term of four years and will serve in the capacity of municipal judge until the next municipal judge is elected and takes control of the office.
Subsection B is the Term Limitation clause, this was repealed by ordinance as discussed above in Article IV Section 1(C).
Subsection C is known as the Term Limitation and Vacancy of Office clause. This clause establishes that any person who fills a vacancy in the office of the municipal judge will not have their now unconstitutional term limit affected by the time they serve filling the vacancy. This allows a judge to run for the two terms that they were allowed before term limits were declared unconstitutional. This provision to the charter is unnecessary as term limits are no longer allowed, therefore nullifying all the power in this subsection.
Subsection D is the Salary clause, it’s a single sentence that declares the city government responsible for setting the municipal judge’s salary. This salary must be set by ordinance, this gives the city council control over the salary of the judiciary and allows the constituents of the city council to have a say in the process.
Section Four: Removal; Forfeiture of Office
The charter previously established that titles of sections, subsections, or clauses may be misleading; this is one of those titles. This section does not deal with a municipal judge’s forfeiture of office, only the removal of the municipal judge.
This subsection declares that the municipal judge may be re moved as according to New Mexico State law.
This is the only sentence and clause in this subsection.
Section Five: Vacancy in the Office of Municipal Judge
This section can get a little complicated. It is made up of three subsections and a series of clauses that call back to Article 3 Section 2 of this charter.
Subsection A is made up of two sentences and two clauses, it is a restriction on the power of both the municipal judge and the mayor. The first clause declares that if there is going to be a temporary vacancy in the municipal judgeship, the municipal judge – not the mayor – may select a temporary replacement so long as they fit the qualifications established by this charter and applicable law. The temporary replacement must be confirmed by the city council before going ahead. The second clause in this subsection declares that the process of appointing a judge to fill the vacancy must follow the same process already established in Section III Subsection 2(B-E), this is the same process the mayor must follow when appointing people to fill vacancies in other positions. See last week’s edition of the Cibola Citizen for an explanation of this process.
Subsection B’s first clause allows the mayor to make an appointment to fill a vacancy in the office of the municipal judge, if the municipal judge does not or cannot make the appointment to temporarily fill the office themself. However, this subsection does not offer a timeline for when the municipal judge may make the appointment, or when the mayor may step in to make an appointment of their own. The second clause to this subsection once again declares the city council’s check on appointments, declaring that the city council must approve the appointment.
Subsection C is another twoclause subsection. The first clause establishes the specific reasons why a municipal judge may not select their temporary successor, those reasons include: If the municipal judge dies, resigns, or is no longer considered a qualified elector of the city. The second clause allows the mayor to make an appointment to fill the vacancy without giving the previous municipal judge an opportunity but must follow the same process previously established in Section III Subsection 2(B-E). This clause also allows for whomever is approved by the city council to fill the vacancy to remain in the office of municipal judge until the next regular election for municipal judge.
This article is a little complicated and deals with a lot of callbacks to previous articles in the charter. Because of the unconstitutionality of term limits in the state, some of what is established in this section no longer holds any power.
With the addition of the municipal judge the charter has officially hammered out the three branches of city government. The Charter opens with the preamble, declaring that the city will be self-governing and made up of the people who live in it, which is why the people of Grants have the power to vote on amendments or changes to their charter. Then the charter declares that the citizens of the City of Grants have every right to their property and the overall makeup and say of the charter; notice that the rights of the citizens are established in this charter before the branches of government.
Then the charter establishes the city council, who act as the legislative branch of government. Later, the charter declares the mayor as the executive branch of government along with the city manager. The charter ensures that the council and mayor will have to work together and compromise by ensuring that the city manager can only be appointed by the mayor but not hired, and that the city council can only hire appointed candidates to the position of manager, but they cannot make appointments. Finally, the article we have discussed today declares the office of the municipal judge as the judicial branch of government.
The charter secures the rights of the citizens first and foremost before the rights of the government and ensures that the people have the ultimate say over their government through elections.
Next week we will explore Article V, which handles the different agencies inside the city, such as the lodger’s tax board, the planning and zoning commission, library board, and other various boards established by the city.