SANTA FE — A New Mexico House committee on Sunday unanimously advanced legislation that would increase penalties for aggravated battery against police officers, following testimony from lawmakers, law enforcement officials and opponents who warned against broader sentence increases.

House Bill 61 was heard Feb. 2 in the New Mexico House Judiciary Committee, which voted 11–0 to send the bill forward. The proposal would raise aggravated battery on a peace officer from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony when the offense causes great bodily harm, involves a deadly weapon, or is committed in a way that could cause death or serious injury.

Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, the bill’s sponsor, said the change is meant to fix an inconsistency in state law.

“It is an increase in penalties, Madam Chair, but it’s also a correction in the law that is just not consistent with the structures of other crimes against peace officers,” Reeb told the committee.

Reeb said current statutes can result in harsher penalties for shooting at and missing an officer than for seriously injuring one.

“To say that you could be shot at and missed and that’s a second degree felony, but you could be shot and paralyzed and get three years for the crime — that structurally does not make sense,” she said.

Co-sponsor Rep. William A. Hall II, R-Albuquerque, a former law enforcement officer, said the bill is about accountability.

“By having this statute in place, we offer the opportunity and the security to our officers who serve in this state that when they are assaulted, there will be consequences,” Hall said.

The committee heard emotional testimony from Joseph Bretto, a Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputy who was shot while serving as a Farmington police officer in 2022.

“On January 7, 2022, while serving as a Farmington police officer, my life changed forever,” Bretto said.

He described being shot during a traffic stop and said he continues to live with permanent injuries.

“Under New Mexico law, aggravated battery on a peace officer is only a third degree felony,” Bretto said. “Three years. Three years for almost killing a police officer.”

Detective Lisa Maggi of the Farmington Police Department said state penalties often fall short in officer-involved shootings.

“When we begin investigating those officer-involved shootings, we already know that we most likely won’t put a person through the judicial system in New Mexico,” Maggi said.

She described the impact of Bretto’s shooting, saying, “Twenty-eight seconds changed his life.”

Law enforcement leaders from across the state spoke in support of the bill. Maj. Randy Larger of the New Mexico State Police called battery on officers “a particularly heinous crime.”

“What we’re trying to do is keep these violent felons off the streets longer,” Larger said.

Opposition testimony came from the Law Offices of the Public Defender. Kim Chavez Cook said her office opposes penalty increases as a public safety strategy.

“We do oppose this legislation as we do most penalty increases as a solution to public safety,” Chavez Cook said.

She warned the bill could allow the same sentence for people who cause serious injury and those who cause none, depending on how charges are applied.

“It is well established that incarceration increases in general are not a deterrent to committing crime,” she said.

A representative from NAMI New Mexico said the organization was not taking a position on the bill but raised concerns about how it could affect people with serious mental illness.

“We do have some concerns that a large portion of those who have pretty serious mental illness end up with battery against an officer,” she said.

Despite questions and concerns raised during the hearing, the committee voted unanimously to advance House Bill 61 to the House floor.