Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) –The NM Department of Justice is shining a light on the Torrance County Commission on a possible violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act. The commission approved an extension of a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Core Civic, a private prison operator during a special meeting on December 30th. The contract allows ICE to house immigrant detainees at the Torrance County Detention Center in Estancia. The problem is, the contract had already expired. Our partners at the Albuquerque Journal report the contract was extended to March 31st of this year and backdated the contract to November 1st of 2025, the date the original contract expired. The NMDOJ alerted county officials on Friday that based on their investigation the county likely violated the Open Meetings Act by not providing the required 72 hour notice for the meeting. County Commission Chair Ryan Schwebach, told Source New Mexico, that the county did not violate the Open Meetings Act, and that the county attorney was already working on a response to the NMDOJ
