Lest there be a doubt, Lea County Sheriff Corey Helton plans to run for re-election next year. After posting his plans on social media, Helton explained he had heard of a rumor to the contrary. “I thought I would quash that rumor,” Helton told the News-Sun, recognizing his office won’t be on the ballot until next June for the primary …

SANTA FE (AP) — Efforts among a handful of states to hold police accountable for brutality and misconduct are expanding Thursday as New Mexico opens the door to civil rights lawsuits against government agencies in state court. The New Mexico Civil Rights Act removes immunity provisions that shield government agencies from financial liability related to misconduct, though individual officials won’t …

SANTA FE (AP) — Efforts among a handful of states to hold police accountable for brutality and misconduct are expanding Thursday as New Mexico opens the door to civil rights lawsuits against government agencies in state court. The New Mexico Civil Rights Act removes immunity provisions that shield government agencies from financial liability related to misconduct, though individual officials won’t …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s top election official has again rejected an attempt to challenge a new gun control law by getting it on the ballot for voters to decide. Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said the law to expand background checks to nearly all private gun sales was designed to improve public safety and therefore …

Lea County Sheriff’s deputies completed an annual sex offender compliance operation this weekend that resulted in arrest/hold orders for five of the some 100 registered offenders in the county. A list of offenders and their registered locations can be found at www.offender-watch.com. A number of the offenders listed are incarcerated at the Lea County Detention Center. Sheriff Byron Wester said the …