By Kiera Hay and Vic Vela
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Annabelle Romero, who has managed the Santa Fe County jail since 2006, was fired Wednesday morning.
County spokeswoman Kristine Mihelcic declined to say why Romero was fired, saying it was a personnel matter.
Romero said that she has “no idea” why she was fired. She said Public Safety Director Pablo Sedillo handed her a “two or three sentence” termination letter Wednesday, but there was no reason provided to her.
She said she believed that perhaps a recent article in the Santa Fe Reporter “that was not favorable to Pablo, but was favorable to me” played a part. But she couldn’t say for sure.
Romero said she was “pretty proud of the time I’ve spent there.”
“I think we accomplished a lot and that we did a lot of good for the community,” she said. Romero took over when the jail was under federal scrutiny for a number of problems under a former private management company.
County Commissioner Robert Anaya said Wednesday morning he didn’t know the particulars of the firing, but trusted the judgment of County Manager Katherine Miller, who ultimately made the decision.
“As a commissioner, my expectation is that the (county) manager will retain people that are functioning and doing what they need to do and if they aren’t she’ll ask them to leave,” Anaya said, adding, “you can read into that what you want.”
County Commissioner Liz Stefanics also declined to say much on the situation.
"(Romero) has contributed to the jail and the county for several years. Her leaving the county is a personnel matter between her and her supervisor, who is the county manager,” Stefanics said.
Romero was considered an “at-will” employee, meaning she was subject to termination at any time. She earned an annual salary of $100,709.
There was some controversy in the months after Romero took over the jail when it became public that in 2001, Romero’s license to practice law was suspended indefinitely by the New Mexico Supreme Court for misconduct including abandoning six clients and misrepresenting the status of cases. The court said she gave “a false account of the status of personal injury cases to some clients.”
Romero in 2007 denied that she had been dishonest in the cases cited by the Supreme Court and said she didn’t contest the allegations in part because she was going through a hard time in her personal life and couldn’t afford to fight the charges.
Romero also has an extensive background in the corrections field.
While controversies over jail conditions have dissipated under Romero, the jail has been at the center of a dispute between the county and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the past few years, and in particular in recent weeks.
ICE maintains that unlike other New Mexico jails, the Santa Fe County jail does not notify ICE when it releases prisoners for which ICE has requested a “detainer.” Under the detainers, jail prisoners who ICE believes may be in violation of immigration law are held for another 48 hours beyond normal release.
The county recently hired Sedillo for the newly created position of public safety director and he has been working on jail issues.
He’ll also now take on the post of interim corrections department director. The Santa Fe Reporter article mentioned Wednesday by Romero was about security, drug and gang problems for prisoners from Hawaii housed at an Arizona prison where Sedillo was warden about 10 years ago.
Anaya said he’s confident the county jail will continue to run smoothly under Sedillo’s direction. He said he expects Miller and other county leaders to provide commissioners with a list of options for how the jail can best move forward.
Copyright 2012 Albuquerque Journal