New Mexico
New Mexico Corrections Department Must Provide Life-Saving Medication to Incarcerated People
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – As a result of a settlement approved by a federal district court Monday, incarcerated people with opioid use disorder (OUD) in the custody of the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) will now be able to continue taking buprenorphine, a medication for opioid use disorder, when they enter NMCD custody. The settlement resolves a lawsuit against NMCD, Corrections Secretary Alisha Tafoya Lucero, and NMCD Health Services Administrator Wenscelaus Asonganyi brought by Disability Rights New Mexico (DRNM) and represented by Katherine Loewe of the Law Office of Ryan Villa, DRNM and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico.
“We are relieved that people entering NMCD custody will now get the lifesaving medication their doctors prescribed them. Opioid use disorder is a disability and medical condition that most often needs to be treated with medication. In fact, medication for opioid use disorder is the only proven method of treatment,” said Tim Gardner, legal director of DRNM. “Without access to their doctor-prescribed medication in prison, people with opioid use disorder suffer painful and dangerous withdrawal and face a high risk of relapse, overdose, and death, both in prison and upon their release. It is cruel and illogical to deny this treatment to people, especially when such effective medications exist. This settlement is a step in the right direction in our state’s effort to tackle the opioid crisis.”
In 2023, the New Mexico Legislature passed Senate Bill 425, which requires NMCD to provide medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) to those in their custody. However, under the statute, NMCD is not required to start continuing medication for people entering custody until the end of 2025. In the intervening two years, were it not for this settlement, many people would have been forced off life-saving medication and exposed to heightened risk of overdose and death.
“Every addiction is different, as is every person who suffers from it,” said Shuana Brown, a DRNM client in another methadone case. “We must care about people on an individual basis. Since our stories are all different, our cures will also be different. I know the New Mexico Corrections Department needs a lot of work from the bottom up. Our lives matter, and I think it’s time NMCD adapts a totally different approach on how it handles inmates.”
This settlement requires NMCD to follow the medical standard of care and provide buprenorphine (which includes brand names Subutex, Suboxone, and Sublocade) to people entering NMCD who are already being treated with it.
“The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis and access to medication is a federal right. This settlement is a step towards ensuring that incarcerated people will continue receiving their life saving medication and remedying the violation of their rights,” said Katherine Loewe. “This is particularly important here in New Mexico where local jails from Bernalillo to Roosevelt County are stepping up and providing MOUD, only to have those medications discontinued for someone sentenced to NMCD. Now, people should be able to receive wrap around care just as they would for other medical conditions.
“Let’s be clear, a banket policy of denying people their prescription MOUD is disability discrimination under the ADA,” continued Loewe. “Every correctional institution should be providing continuity now. Nonetheless, NMCD has agreed to start providing buprenorphine 90 days after the New Mexico Health and Human Services Department promulgates rules. By statute, the state was required to promulgate these rules by December 1, 2023. The state has failed to do so. This failure to comply with the statute is delaying people’s access to buprenorphine and calling into question the state’s commitment to complying with SB 425’s requirements.”
The settlement will:
- Require NMCD to start providing buprenorphine to people entering NMCD custody who are currently receiving medications for opioid use disorder from a licensed medical provider;
- Allow pregnant and lactating people currently receiving buprenorphine while incarcerated to stay on buprenorphine after birth and after they are no longer lactating as long as clinically indicated;
- Lift prohibitions that prevent people in NMCD custody who reside at halfway houses like Men’s and Women’s Recovery and Crossroads Pavilions from being able to receive MOUD;
- Require NMCD to report quarterly about the number of individuals being screened and treated for OUD under the settlement agreement.
The settlement does not require the state to start people on MOUD if they were not on it prior to entering NMCD custody. However, by the end of the fiscal year, July 1, 2026, NMCD must begin assessing all incarcerated individuals and providing MOUD to those who need it pursuant to SB 425.
“People in prison still have a right to essential, lifesaving healthcare, including medications prescribed by their doctors,” said Lalita Moskowitz, litigation manager for the ACLU of New Mexico. “Providing this treatment for opioid use disorder gives people a chance to be free of the dangerous drugs that may have contributed to them becoming incarcerated in the first place. This is a critical step in addressing public health and safety concerns that affect all of us, including the communities incarcerated people return home to.”
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A leader in the New Mexico Republican Party was arrested Wednesday, accused of a deadly hit-and-run in Las Cruces.
Former Treasurer of the Republican Party in New Mexico, Kimberly Ann Skaggs, 54, was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene and tampering with evidence, jail records show.
Police documents show the charges stem from a deadly hit-and-run crash that happened Monday afternoon, which killed 40-year-old bicyclist, Andrew Brown.
Investigators believed Skaggs was involved after an investigation revealed that Skaggs allegedly was driving fast in the area, fled the scene after the crash and then tried to hide the vehicle from authorities.
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The investigation
According to police documents, a witness at the scene of the crash– 850 N. Fairacres Rd.– described seeing a dark blonde-haired woman flee in a black Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Afterwards, investigators said they saw on Flock cameras– A.I. powered license plate readers– a black Cadillac Escalade traveling near the site of the crash minutes before the incident.
READ MORE: Dona Ana County expands Flock license plate cameras as officials cite crime-solving gains
The license plates showed that the vehicle belonged to Skaggs and that, in September 2025, the Las Cruces Police Department had given her a citation for “racing on streets-exhibition driving.”
Investigators stated that a business on Picacho Ave. captured what they alleged was the same black Cadillac Escalade driving fast.
Then, the documents described how investigators tracked down the Escalade using OnStar’s live GPS tracking, discovering the SUV was at a property on the 5000 block of Northwind Road, which investigators said the Dona Ana County Assessors Office confirmed is a property owned by Skaggs.
On Tuesday, at around 6:41 p.m.– over 24 hours after the deadly hit-and-run– investigators executed a search warrant on the property and described finding the black Cadillac Escalade behind a home, under a red metal carport.
Investigators noted damage on the SUV consistent with the crash, highlighting that there was blood splatter near one of the front tires, markings on the front bumper consistent with hitting a bicycle and parts missing, which investigators said were the same parts found at the scene.
Dona Ana County jail records show Skaggs was booked on Wednesday afternoon and remains jailed without a bond.
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About Skaggs
On the official website of the Republican Party of New Mexico, Skaggs was listed as the treasurer before she was removed.
KFOX14/CBS4 has reached out to the Republican Party to learn more and are waiting for a comment regarding the arrest.
Also, according to election statistics, Skaggs ran for State Representative in District 36 in 2022 and 2024, losing both times to Democrat Nathan P. Small.
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SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether any Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law when pills reached New Mexico streets.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham said, “make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities.”
The governor also shared a timeline from 2022 to 2025 that she said shows when she asked federal officials for help with New Mexico’s fentanyl crisis and violent crime.
Lujan Grisham said the first request came on June 21, 2022, when she wrote to then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and asked for 50 additional federal agents.
She said she wrote to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sept. 15, 2022, asking for more agents, resources and support for New Mexico law enforcement.
Lujan Grisham said she wrote Garland a second time on Aug. 8, 2023, with the same request.
What came next?
About a month later, Lujan Grisham said she sent Garland a third letter and said New Mexico needed more federal law enforcement to curb violent crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
She said her most recent request came on Sept. 4, 2025, when she wrote to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and again asked for additional agents and resources.
The governor’s statement says those requests span several years as she pressed the federal government for more help in New Mexico.
Full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:
“I am appalled by reporting this week by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal that revealed federal authorities made a deliberate decision to let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills flood into New Mexico communities, despite knowing that fentanyl is so lethal the White House has designated it a weapon of mass destruction.
Let me say that again: the Drug Enforcement Administration watched as 74,000 fentanyl pills were delivered to a mobile home park in Albuquerque, and they did nothing. And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets.
There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway. The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.
If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise. New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide.
Today, I wrote to Attorney General Raúl Torrez and asked him to investigate whether any federal agents broke state law when they allowed lethal drugs to remain on our streets, and to prosecute anyone responsible — regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not.
I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis.
- On June 21, 2022, I wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray, imploring the FBI to assign no less than 50 additional agents to New Mexico to stem escalating drug trafficking and violent crime.
- On September 15, 2022, I wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice provide additional federal agents, resources and support to New Mexico law enforcement. We asked the department to match the level of investigative, analytical, and technical resources the FBI had deployed in its Buffalo, NY surge.
- On August 8, 2023, I wrote again to Attorney General Garland, renewing my request that the DOJ expeditiously assign more federal agents to New Mexico.
- On September 7, 2023, I wrote to Attorney General Garland for a third time, reiterating my request once more federal law enforcement support to curb violent crime, drug and human trafficking.
- On September 4, 2025, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, once again requesting additional agents and resources.
I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in.
New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business.
I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”
The Canyon Venado Fire has grown to 852 acres east of Clines Corners and crews say wind farms in the area are threatened.
CLINES CORNERS, N.M. – The Canyon Venado Fire has grown to 852 acres east of Clines Corners and crews say wind farms in the area are threatened.
The fire is burning just east of Clines Corners, south of Interstate 40.
It forced the closure of eastbound Interstate 40 at Clines Corners on Tuesday night. I-40 reopened Tuesday night. I-40 is back open but smoke still affects visibility.
“We’re on the side of I-40 so drivers have to be pretty cautious. As far as our establishment itself we’re pretty isolated by the freeway itself as a nice fire break,” said Lincoln Tarantino, Clines Corner general manager.
The fire has burned around 852 acres, up from just 20 at this time Monday.
Crews say the fire is not contained and wind farms in the area are threatened.
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