A. There is created in the state treasury the "jury and witness fee fund" to be administered by the administrative office of the courts.

B. All balances in the jury and witness fee fund may be expended only upon appropriation by the legislature to the administrative office of the courts for the purpose of paying the costs of:

(1) jurors and prospective jurors;

(2) witnesses of fact or character subpoenaed by the court, the prosecution or the defense;

(3) expert witnesses for grand juries and magistrate courts; and

(4) defending persons whom the court has ordered a public defender to represent, when those persons do not meet the public defender department's indigency standards.

C. All jury fees that the courts collect from parties requesting civil juries, except for jury demand fees as set forth in Section 35-6-1 NMSA 1978, and interest earned on money in the jury and witness fee fund shall be credited to the fund. Payments shall be made upon certification by judicial agencies of eligible amounts. No part of the fund shall revert at the end of any fiscal year.

D. Payments from the jury and witness fee fund shall be made upon vouchers issued and signed by the director of the administrative office of the courts or the director's designee upon warrants drawn by the secretary of finance and administration.

History: Laws 1993, ch. 106, § 1; 1994, ch. 36, § 1; 2017, ch. 74, § 2.

Cross references. — For jury trials in metropolitan court, see 34-8A-5 NMSA 1978 and Rule 3-602 NMRA.

For the contribution of civil case docket fees and civil jury fees to the magistrate retirement fund, see 10-12C-11 NMSA 1978.

For Indigent Defense Act, see 31-16-1 to 31-16-10 NMSA 1978.

For determination of indigency under the Indigent Defense Act, see 31-16-5 NMSA 1978.

For schedule of magistrate costs, see 35-6-1 NMSA 1978.

For the payment of jury fees in district court civil actions, see Rule 1-038 NMRA.

For the payment of jury fees in magistrate courts, see Rule 2-602 NMRA.

For the payment of jury fees in the metropolitan court, see Rule 3-602 NMRA.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, removed "court interpreters" from the list of costs paid for by the jury and witness fee fund, and made technical changes; in Subsection B, deleted Paragraph B(4), which provided for the costs of court interpreters to be paid for by the jury and witness fee fund, redesignated former Paragraph B(5) as Paragraph B(4), and in Paragraph B(4), after "has ordered", deleted "the" and added "a", and after the second occurrence of "public", deleted "defender's" and added "defender department's"; and in Subsection D, after "administrative office of the courts or", deleted "his" and added "the director's".

The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, in Subsection B, deleted "and" at the end of Paragraph (3), added "and" at the end of Paragraph (4) and added Paragraph (5).

Court determination obligates public defender. — The legislature, understanding that courts determine indigence under the Indigent Defense Act (IDA), enacted 31-15-10 NMSA 1978 of the Public Defender Act (PDA) intending "every person without counsel who is financially unable to obtain counsel" to include all persons who courts determine are "needy" under the 31-16-5 NMSA 1978 of the IDA. Therefore, under the administrative system of the PDA and IDA, when a court determines that a defendant is "needy," the defendant is "financially unable to obtain counsel" under the PDA, and the Department "shall represent" the defendant pursuant to 31-15-10 NMSA 1978, assuming the defendant is charged with a crime carrying a possible sentence of imprisonment. State ex rel. Quintana v. Schnedar, 1993-NMSC-033, 115 N.M. 573, 855 P.2d 562.

Determination of indigency. — The Indigent Defense Act and the Public Defender Act are consistent as amended; the IDA obligates courts to determine indigence, the PDA directs the department to adopt standards for determining indigence. State ex rel. Quintana v. Schnedar, 1993-NMSC-033, 115 N.M. 573, 855 P.2d 562.

Attorney not liable for costs. — Defense counsel's failure to notify witness and interpreter of his decision to vacate a scheduled hearing did not make him responsible under the Witness Fee Payment Guidelines for the fees incurred in bringing them to the hearing; while counsel could have made his decision earlier and given more notice, he was not required by the guidelines to do so. State v. Rivera, 1998-NMSC-024, 125 N.M. 532, 964 P.2d 93.