By Deborah Baker
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Gov.-elect Susana Martinez made another bit of history on Monday, naming career corrections official Lupe Martinez to head the Corrections Department in the new administration.
Lupe Martinez, warden of the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants, would be the first woman to head the department that runs the state prison system.
Her nomination must be confirmed by the state Senate.
Lupe Martinez, 49, has spent 25 years with the department, starting as a classification officer. Her introduction to the agency was an internship while she was working on her bachelor’s degree at New Mexico State University.
“It was my first taste of corrections, and I fell in love with it,” she told a press conference with the governor-elect. The two are not related. Gov.-elect Martinez, who will be sworn in Saturday, said she probably won’t name all her Cabinet choices before she takes office.
“We are not going to settle. We are interviewing people constantly for every position that remains,” she said. That includes out-of-state candidates, the governor-elect said. “We want to make sure that when we make a decision, it is a long-lasting one,” she said.
Among positions still to be filled are the secretaries of the departments of Health; Environment; Energy and Minerals; Children, Youth and Families; Tourism; and Cultural Affairs. Lupe Martinez has been warden of the Grants prison since August 2009. She was warden of the Roswell Correctional Center from May 2008 until she went to Grants.
Her earlier jobs included deputy warden of administration, deputy warden of operations and associate warden of programs at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Las Cruces, and warden of the Fort Stanton Correctional Center.
The state prison system has about 6,700 inmates. It includes state-run facilities in Los Lunas, Santa Fe and Springer and state prisoners housed in private prisons in Hobbs, Santa Rosa, Clayton and Grants.
The governor-elect said the corrections nominee is an outstanding employee who understands the department “from one end to the other.” Lupe Martinez said her corrections career has been “a challenge and an adventure” that requires vigilance and offers constant variety.
“I have seen the operations of the Corrections Department from a number of vantage points and will work very hard to ensure that it is run professionally and efficiently,” the nominee said. Budget considerations will be a “major challenge,” she acknowledged, adding, “Public safety is still going to be our major concern.”
Gov.-elect Martinez said overcrowding is not currently a problem, but that if it were to become one, she would not authorize early releases of inmates as a way of dealing with it.
Copyright 2010 Albuquerque Journal